Worthy
by Thorkone
Summary: When Elizabeth Carmichael took the internship at Stark Industries, she had no idea what was in store for her. But in her wildest dreams it didn't include Superheroes or Gods.
1. Chapter 1

I stopped and stared up at the building in front of me. Imposing, huge, and a beacon for anyone concerned with clean energy. I had won the internship at Stark Industries research and development division by working my ass off all year, coming up with innovative and exciting ways to utilized the arc reactor technology. I'd be interviewed by Mr. Stark himself when it came time to award the position. I'd never been so excited to work in an unpaid position in my life. It was made all the better by being in New York City. And even more awesome because accommodation was provided in the tower. Even if the internship didn't lead to permanent employment at Stark Industries after my sojourn there, it would be a resume jackpot.

I stopped at the main security desk and picked up my passcard. Elizabeth Carmichael. It sounded much more glamourous than Ella did, but I'd never been called Elizabeth in my entire life. Always Ella, except from my Nan, who called me Bethy. I clipped the tag on my blouse and headed to the elevator. The email from the HR department had been clear: pick up your passcard, and report to the main office of R&D on the 55th floor. I pressed the button and waited for the elevator to close. A hand reached in to stop the door and Mr. Stark stepped in. He smiled, like he would to anyone he shared the elevator with, and then his eyes narrowed as he read my nametag.

"Ms. Carmichael! You've made it to the city then? Where are your bags? Are you not staying on site?" He spoke so fast I could barely follow him.

"My flight arrived late last night. I thought I would stay at a hotel overnight and then get organized to move into my room, sir." I felt breathless just trying to keep up with his speech, and rushed through my own explanation.

"We'll send someone to collect your things. We're having a little social in the lounge tonight; you don't want to miss it. Good networking opportunities. There are three of you that earned internships. Pepper was particularly excited about you. Not a lot of women in STEM, you know. So we're having a meet and greet for the three of you. Mostly Stark staff, but there'll will be some others in attendance. Angela will get you organized." There was even information stored in the nuances of how he spoke. It was going to be overwhelming until I got used to it. If I got the chance to get used to it. This elevator interaction might be the last time I saw Mr. Stark for the rest of the summer. The elevator doors opened, and I stepped out into the bright, clean research and development administrative office. I waited at the desk while the woman sitting there was on a call. Her nameplate said Angela, so I suspected she was who Mr. Stark said would organize me.

"Ella, right?" She swivelled her chair to face me. I nodded. "I've already contacted the concierge at your hotel to have your belongings sent over. I'll show you to your rooms at the end of your orientation and tour. Then you can get settled."

"I won't be working?" I was surprised.

"Not today. Today is all about the Stark Industries machine and how you fit into it. So orientation to the labs, meet some of the people you'll be working under, settling into your suite and figuring out your way around. There's a meet and greet tonight." She typed something into her computer and then rose. Without waiting for me, she headed off down a hallway. "This is the administrative floor for Research and Development. R&D takes twenty floors here, from 55 to 75. Starting at the 76th floor, the Avengers Tower begins, and you'll only end up there if Mr. Stark wants to meet with you. Well, and for the mixer tonight. The 56th and 57th floors are all housing. Our guest scientists are housed on 56 and your suite is on 57. The project you've been assigned to is an offshoot of the household arc reactor project, and will allow you to work on one of your proposals. That division is on 60 through 65. Your direct supervisor is Markus Reid." I scrambled to scribble notes and keep up with her and she led me through a maze of hallways and offices. We finally came to a halt and I was so busy scratching notes into my notebook that I bumped into her.

"Oh, god. Sorry," I apologized. She smiled and shook her head.

"Relax, Ella. You were the top candidate. Your proposals rocked Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts socks off. You belong here," she reassured me. "And I'm going to email all this info to you, so you can put away your notebook."

"Thanks. I'm feeling a bit small right now," I admitted.

"The first few days are very overwhelming for every Stark Industries employee. It's why we schedule nothing work-related on the first day." She knocked on a door and hesitated just a second before opening it. "I have Elizabeth Carmichael here to sign some paperwork." She led me in to the office, and sat in a chair near the door after pointing to a chair at the desk. Another woman smiled and dropped a sheaf of paper in front of me.

"The bottom half of that is the paperwork for you that explains everything in the top half. But this is a basic non-disclosure agreement. The second one is the follow up to the initial waiver you signed when you applied for the internship, giving proprietary rights to Stark Industries, while maintaining your intellectual property, authorship and development rights. That basically means if what you're working on goes into production, it will be a Stark Industries product, but you will be credited as the inventor. There's some tax paperwork and a release for your university." The woman handed me a pen. I looked up at her while I tried to process everything she'd explained.

"Tax paperwork?"

"For your pay."

"Oh, I'm here for the internship. I'm not paid." I thought that would be clear to an HR person.

"No, Mr. Stark pays his interns. It makes the transition when you are hired easier," she explained.

"What?"

"Did you not read your acceptance package?" She gave me a look that suggested she thought I might be stupid.

"I did. It suggested that if Stark Industries was happy with my performance, I could be offered an extension at the end of the internship, provided my degree was complete." At least, that's what I'd understood from reading it.

"And you've already provided transcripts showing you've finished both your bachelor's and master's degrees. There were only three internships offered, Ms. Carmichael. We complete all your paperwork now with the assumption that you will be staying on at Stark Industries. If you've passed our rigorous application process, we feel you are a keeper. If you choose not to stay, it will be because you chose not to stay," She explained. I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I knew the internship was prestigious, but I didn't realize exactly how incredible it was.

"Oh. Well. In that case," I said and scratched my signature across the papers in front of me. She offered her hand. I stood and shook it.

"Welcome to Stark Industries, Ms. Carmichael."

XXX

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Angela assured me that her email would include maps, and secret notes and tidbits that would help me remember everything, but I was so floored from the words of the HR person that I really couldn't focus. Angela led me to the commissary for lunch and ordered for both of us. I didn't even realize until she handed me a tray with food on it.

"Are you going to be okay?" She asked. I gave my head a little shake to snap back to reality and smiled in apology.

"Sorry. I'm feeling even more overwhelmed than I was when I got out of the cab this morning," I laughed. She took a seat at a table and nodded for me to sit across from her.

"You should give yourself some credit. You earned your place here. Pepper is really excited about having you. I suspect you'll be the poster child for gender equality at Stark Industries for some time to come. As soon as you won that internship, your place here was secured. Probably for life," she grinned. I shook my head.

"What if I'm a dud?"

"You aren't though. Mr. Stark himself thoroughly vetted your application, and Pepper went through your references with a fine tooth comb. She even tracked down extra references. You deserve this more than anyone who's ever applied before, Ella."

"I feel like I might be sick," I groaned. It was her turn to shake her head.

"It's first day jitters. Once you've settled into a routine and have your nose into all that sciencey stuff you do, it'll all blow over," She laughed. I didn't want to pick a fight so I just focussed on my lunch.

XXX

My suite was ridiculous. I'd understood we'd be provided with a room. In my mind, I had thought dormitory style, like at university. I was quickly learning Tony Stark did nothing by halves. I had a suite. First of all, the whole thing was fully furnished. The master bedroom had the biggest bed I'd ever seen in it, and an ensuite bathroom with a shower bigger than my last dorm room. There was a second bedroom, I'm not sure why. Plus an office, an open floor plan living room and kitchen and a main bathroom. There was a storage closet that I'm pretty sure could have kept a small family comfortable. And a deck with a view of the city. I opened the fridge and discovered it had been fully stocked already. I grabbed a bottle of water and stood at the counter, the overwhelming feeling of just too much washing across me again. There was a bound book on the counter, and when I flipped through it, I realized it was a Stark Tower lifestyle guide, with information about the pool, the gym, the on-site movie theatre, the commissary, and on and on. There was a tablet on the wall that allowed you to order in take-away or groceries. Housekeeping was once a week. I pinched myself to make sure it wasn't a dream, fully expecting to awaken back in the dorm room at the university. But I didn't.

I unpacked my bags and checked my email for the details on the get together. Casual eveningwear. What was that, even? I grabbed my phone and texted Angela. Whether she liked it or not, she was my new bestie.

"_What does casual eveningwear mean?_"

"_Nothing too fancy. Knee length dress is more appropriate than floor length._"

"_I've been in university for the last nine years. I have nothing even remotely appropriate._"

"_I'm on it. I'll meet you in the lobby._"

XXX

"I'm sorry, Angela, I just didn't know who else to ask." I felt like all I was doing was apologizing to her. She laughed.

"You're my assignment for the next few weeks. And you are so much nicer than the last new hire I was paired with. I can see actually wanting to spend time with you," she laughed.

"Really? You're my personal person?" I arched an eyebrow. She laughed again.

"Something like that. Human Resources likes to pair someone from admin to new hires as an orientation guide. It's a pretty awesome job, to be honest. I get to meet most of the new people on their way in the door. Make lots of new friends. Meet lots of cute science nerd guys." She winked. I laughed.

"And yet you don't mind being assigned me. I must be very special indeed," I teased.

"Your little lost puppy eyes sucked me right in," she giggled. "Come on, let's get you a dress." It felt like she dragged me all over town, but the truth was, we didn't go far, and we only visited a couple of stores. I tried on everything she brought to me, and let her tell me what looked best. I was most comfortable in jeans, a t-shirt and a lab coat, so I trusted her judgement. We were a whirlwind of activity after picking the dress. She steered me over to a shoe store, and then a make-up store. I didn't even realize there was such a thing as a make-up store. I only kept mascara in my bathroom because my eyelashes were so light you couldn't see them without a bit of mascara on them.

When we finally got back to the building, I wanted nothing more than to take a nap. Angela shooed me into the shower and ordered us some dinner instead. She helped me with my hair and then sat me down to eat.

"Do you wear contacts ever?" She asked. I pushed my glasses up my nose and shook my head.

"No, they don't make contacts for eyes like mine," I admitted.

"Okay. I can work with that," she looked at me thoughtfully and chewed on her pizza. Before I knew it, she was rearranging my hair, and applying make-up and amazingly, although I'd honestly never thought I'd enjoy the fuss that went along with dressing up, I did enjoy myself. It helped that Angela kept a running commentary of exclamations about how pretty I was, and how nice my eyes were. I never had thought there was anything particularly special about my brown hair and brown eyes. I changed my mind when Angela let me look in the mirror. My hair was loose and wavy, and cascaded over my shoulders. The red dress she'd found for me highlighted that my hair was more than one shade of brown, and brought out the natural glow in my cheeks. My eyes, despite being framed behind my glasses, looked big and sparkly.

"Wow."

"You'll have half the R&D guys begging for your number by the end of the night!" Angela laughed. I blushed.

"I don't know about that," I protested. She laughed again.

"Come on. I'll be your wingman." She linked arms with me and led me out the door and to the elevator.


	2. Chapter 2

The crushing feeling of inadequacy hit me again as the elevator opened up to let us out into the cocktail party. I hesitated at the gap between the elevator and the large, noisy room. Angela gave me a gentle nudge, but I froze, taking in the panorama in front of me. Almost every scientist I'd ever quoted in any of my research was standing in that room, mingling with one another. When Tony Stark isn't the biggest name in a room, it can make you pause. I'm pretty sure I recognized the most recent recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics standing by the bar. And Dr. Banner was lingering near the door to the patio and pool deck, looking exceptionally uncomfortable. At least he was near an exit where he could cool off and relax if he needed to. His research was what drove me into the sciences. In the end, I decided gamma radiation wasn't really the area I was passionate about, and pursued research that put me in Stark's path. But he was still kinda my hero.

"If you don't step off this elevator right now, I'm going to push you off, and then you'll draw a lot more attention to yourself than if you act like a normal person." Angela had my number already. I stepped into the party tentatively. Angela steered me straight to the bar. "Let's get a drink into you, loosen you up a little. These people have all been where you are, Ella. What's your poison?"

"Vodka, rocks." My eyes were glued to the room, and I just kept recognizing more and more people. Surely they all didn't work for Stark Industries. I would have noticed that at some point during my application process. Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts saw me as Angela handed me my drink. Ms. Potts smiled in welcome and headed straight to me. I didn't have time to panic.

"Ms. Carmichael! I'm so pleased to see you. You look a bit like a canary in a room of cats. Don't. They're all harmless. And some of them are very excited to discuss your proposals with you," she took my hand and squeezed it familiarly. It was not at all like my boss was shaking my hand, but more like a friend greeting me.

"It's nice to see you again, Ms. Potts." I managed, and took a sip from my glass.

"Please, Pepper is fine. We'll reserve the formality for press releases," she smiled. "Are you settling into your rooms?"

"I am. They're much more than I was expecting. Everything about this internship is more than I was expecting," I blurted. I was nervous enough that I took a perhaps-larger-than-it-should-have-been swallow from my glass and nearly choked.

"We're so pleased you accepted, Ms. Carmichael," Pepper gushed. "Really. I'm sure Angela has filled you in about the women in STEM initiative Stark Industries is backing."

"If I'm going to call you Pepper, you're going to have to call me Ella. Angela mentioned a little about it, but I didn't realize there was an entire initiative." The combination of vodka and talking shop with Pepper was starting to ease my nerves, and I could feel the tension starting to melt from my shoulders.

"We're starting summer and weekend science and technology camps for girls. I'm hoping you'll be able to find some time to work with me on promoting them. I think Angela has scheduled a meeting for us sometime in the next few days," she explained.

"That would be really cool." I took another sip. There wasn't much left in my glass. I was going to need to slow down. Mr. Stark was watching the crowd, but I could tell that his head was in our conversation.

"I hope you'll come out of your shell a little, Ms. Carmichael. You were vibrant during the interview process. I hope that wasn't a one-off. It'll be hard to sell STEM as cool with a mousy science nerd girl as the PR star." He was suddenly back in the conversation full force. I flushed.

"Tony! It's first day nerves. We can't all be the shiniest constellation in the sky all the time," Pepper scolded him. "Don't pay attention to him, Ella. Parties bring out the worst of his quirks." The way she said it, I could almost see the air-quotes hanging in the air around the word quirks. I smiled.

"I promise you, Mr. Stark. I can be just as shiny as you need me to be when surrounded by young women. It's when I'm in the presence of the likes of Dr. Banner and Dr. McCoy that I tend to get star-struck. And I think, did I see Reed Richards?" I found my voice. Mr. Stark smiled.

"Since we're all making friends, you may as well call me Tony," he allowed. "I make sure my best and brightest get a chance to meet _the_ best and brightest."

"As much as I appreciate the opportunity, it's just a little overwhelming." I felt it was only fair to be honest with them, since they were my employers. Pepper squeezed my hand again.

"I have no doubt, after speaking to your references, that you will be everything that we are looking for, Ella," she reassured me. I took another sip from my glass, and Tony suddenly noticed it in my hand.

"Please tell me that's not water. We have a strict no water at parties rule here at Stark Industries." Mr. Stark took my glass away and finished what was left. He coughed and handed it back. "Oh, I think you're going to fit in here quite well, Mouse." Angela took the glass from me and got a fresh one from the bar. I reminded myself to go slow. There was no point in getting drunk in front of such an auspicious crowd on my first day.

Angela led me around to a number of people I would be working with, including my direct supervisor, Markus Reid. He shook my hand with enthusiasm and launched into a long-winded explanation of my project and how it would fit in with his project. I found myself lingering with him for longer than was probably necessary. He was passionate about his work with the arc reactor technology and he reminded me of my thesis supervisor, ready to help and happy to share whatever advances he had discovered. It was the lynchpin in making me settle for the evening. If my supervisor was excited to have me, no one else really mattered. Angela's face lit up and she excused me from the conversation.

"Shut up. You are not going to believe this. I have someone to introduce to you!" She exclaimed. I followed her as she led me across the lounge and toward the windows overlooking the outside deck. I couldn't figure out who she wanted me to meet, but the last person who'd been near where we were headed was Dr. Banner, and I was sure she'd seen him earlier. She slowed to a more dignified walk and led me to Dr. Banner. He was chatting with a petite brunette who looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place her. Dr. Banner looked up and acknowledged Angela as he finished what he was saying to the other woman.

"Angela, you always walk with such purpose." His tone was warm, and he gripped her hand with both of his. It was obvious from Angela's relaxed posture that they'd worked with each other a few times.

"Comes with the job. This is Elizabeth Carmichael, one of the new interns here at Stark," she introduced me. "Ella, this is Bruce Banner." She paused and turned toward the woman. "And if I'm not mistaken, this is Dr. Jane Foster?" Dr. Banner shook my hand and nodded toward Dr. Foster.

"So pleased to meet you, Dr. Banner. It was your work that led me into the sciences." I tried not to gush. I don't think I was successful.

"Really? My understanding was that physics and engineering were your specialties," he asked. My heart nearly stopped. He knew my areas of study. My science geek girl idol knew my specialties.

"I got really into green energy during my undergrad studies, and my focus switched," I admitted.

"And my accident had nothing to do with that?" He raised an eyebrow. I laughed and realized that might not have been the best response. I bit back my smile and shook my head.

"Actually, no. Your accident happened when I was in first year, and I stuck with my studies as a minor. It was when it was time to begin my master's that I felt I could do more good, with my level of knowledge, if I pursued green energy," I explained. He looked thoughtful.

"And once again, Bruce, I point out that your accident has significantly less effect on the opinions of others than you think," Dr. Foster jumped in, and offered her hand. I shook it. "Such a pleasure to meet you, Ella. Tony has been beside himself with excitement about your thesis. I think the other two interns might be getting the short end of the stick."

"Except that there is not short end of the stick at Stark," Banner argued. Dr. Foster laughed and nodded.

"It's so true. I wish these internships had existed when I was struggling for funding." she looked past my shoulder, distracted. I turned and followed her gaze until it lit on the most beautiful man I think I'd ever seen. He was tall, and blond, and broad, with a big smile and an equally large laugh. And from the way Dr. Foster was looking at him, I realized he must be Thor. "I didn't realize he was going to be here." The smile fell from her face.

"I'm sorry, Jane, I had no idea. Why would he be here? He's not one of you sciencey types," Angela apologized. Dr. Foster turned to me and shook my hand again.

"It was truly lovely to meet you, Ella. I look forward to watching your project. If you ever need anything, Angela can get you in touch with me. Even if it's just a woman-to-woman bitchfest. We STEM ladies need to stick together." She excused herself and made her way quickly to the elevator. Angela and I watched her as the elevator doors closed. I was disappointed, but turned back to Dr. Banner. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Thor stepping up to us.

"Banner, my friend! It has been too long since we've met. You look well!" Everything about Thor was big. He pulled Dr. Banner into one of those one-armed-man-hugs, his massive arms straining against the confines of his t-shirt. He towered over both of us. He released Dr. Banner and turned to Angela and I. If I looked anything like Angela did, I was gawking like a slack-jawed idiot. I nudged her gently and she closed her mouth.

"Ladies, it is well to make your acquaintance. I am Thor, of Asgard," he introduced, taking my hand and kissing my knuckles. I raised an eyebrow and glanced at Angela.

"Ella Carmichael." I couldn't form any other words. There was just so much of him, and it was so close. I was completely star-struck in a way I'd never been about a fellow scientist. He took Angela's hand.

"Angela Benett," she breathed. I was so glad I wasn't the only one on the verge of swooning. The man was truly a specimen. Banner cleared his throat, and I snapped my attention back over to the man who had arguably been the first crush of my science geeky heart.

"What brings you here, Thor?" he asked. Thor turned back to him and smiled his ridiculous, large, beautiful smile.

"I had need to speak to Tony. I had not realized it was a celebration, or I would have come tomorrow. Twas not urgent," he explained. "And I am afraid I have chased Jane from her colleagues." There was regret in his tone. Things were obviously over with them, not merely bumpy or awkward.

"He said twas," I whispered to Angela. She stifled a giggle. I'm not sure why it was so amusing, other than that I had finished my second vodka. I'm not sure what her excuse was; I knew she hadn't been drinking. "I hope we'll get a chance to talk more about what you're studying now, Dr. Banner." I had to excuse myself before I made an idiot of myself in front of Dr. Banner and Thor. Angela followed me to the deck. I stretched out on a deck chair and looked up at the sky. Stark Tower was so high that it seemed to be above the smog of the city. There was still loads of light pollution, but I was reassured that the stars were the same in New York City as they were at home in Washington. We sat quietly for a few minutes.

"Thanks for being my sidekick, Angela," I sighed. "I don't know if I'd have made it through the afternoon, let alone this evening, without your assistance."

"Well, like I said, it's my job. But paycheque aside, you're alright, Ella," she chuckled.

"I'm glad you think so. I don't know if I can afford Stark wages to keep you as a friend." Across the deck something caught my eye, and I slipped of my shoes to walk over to it. Angela must have seen it too because she followed curiously. It was the biggest damn hammer I've ever seen in my life, just sitting on a low table beside the pool. It was fancy, tooled with knotwork. I ran my hand over it. I wasn't sure what it was made of. It had the warm feel of vibranium, but it almost seemed to hum under my hand. I slid my hand up the leather wrapped handle. The grip was comfortable. I squeezed the handle, and felt the give of the leather wrap against my hand.

"I don't know if you should be playing with that, Ella," Angela warned.

"What do you suppose it is? It feels like it's got more of a purpose that just a giant paperweight, or decoration," I thought out loud, flexing my fingers along the handle. It felt like it needed to be held. I might not be describing that properly, but it was almost like it spoke to me. Which clearly suggested I'd had too much to drink.

"I haven't seen it before, but I don't get up into this part of the tower much. Is it heavy? Maybe it's a prop or a prototype or some sort," Angela shrugged. I adjusted my grip on the handle and prepared myself to lift it, assuming it would be ridiculously heavy. I was surprised when after a slight tug of resistance, I was able to heft the thing in the air. The air around us crackled with static, and suddenly a shock ran through my body, from the hand that was holding the hammer through to my feet. Everything around me slowed down, almost like slow motion in the movies. I looked up at Angela and saw Thor and Dr. Banner running towards us over her shoulder. Thor was reaching out, his mouth forming some kind of words, but I couldn't hear them. I felt the hammer tug out of my hand and it flew away from me. The electricity left my body and I collapsed on the pool deck.

"What the actual fuck?" I muttered before blackness overtook my thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

The air rushing in my ears was the first thing I heard when I came to. Angela was kneeling beside me, her hand smacking my face lightly. Her mouth moved as she said something, but I couldn't hear her over the white noise in my head. I put my hand to my head and sat up. The world was spinning. Angela looked over my shoulder and spoke again. A moment later strong arms lifted me under the legs and back. I looked up into Thor's concerned blue eyes. Gone was the big smile and jovial demeanor. He didn't look angry though. Just concerned. He carried me over to the deck chair and sat me down. Dr. Banner was headed toward us with a bag of ice, and Pepper and Tony was rushing along behind him. Some noise finally started to break through the ringing in my ears.

"Ella Carmichael, how do you fare?" Thor's voice was a low rumble. I looked at him as he squatted beside me.

"What just happened?" I asked.

"That is the question, indeed. It would seem you lifted Mjolnir," he picked up the hammer and held it so the light from inside illuminated the writing on the face of it. _Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor_. I could feel my brow furrowing. I possessed the power of Thor? It certainly didn't feel that way when the bolt of lightning shot through my body.

"Oh god, did I steal your power from you?" I gasped. He shook his head.

"My father enchanted Mjolnir, so that only those worthy to wield her could lift her. You have not taken my power, but should you continue to be able to heft Mjolnir, you may be able to access the powers that she has given me. I did not think it possible, from a Midgardian," he explained.

"What do you mean, not possible?" I eyed the hammer where it sat on the deck beside me.

"What he means is that he has yet to meet anyone capable of lifting it. I can't. No one on the Avengers Initiative can. We've all tried." As if to prove his point, Tony wrapped his hand around the handle of the hammer and tugged. It didn't budge.

"Even Dr. Banner can't?" I was surprised. Dr. Banner came to stand beside Tony.

"Even the Other Guy can't," he corrected, his voice full of gentle reproach. I blinked and looked away, embarrassed I'd made him uncomfortable.

"Then why was I able to?" I looked back at Thor. He shook his head.

"I cannot fathom why. It bears more investigation. But perhaps not tonight," he suggested. I nodded blankly. Tony stepped closer and held out his hand to me.

"Are you feeling like you could stand? We're gathering a bit of an audience. It would probably be good to show everyone that you're okay," he suggested. I took the offered hand and pulled myself to my feet. "I will understand completely if you would like to make it an early night, Ella."

"I think I will. Thanks Tony. I had a chance to meet with Markus and that was the most important goal for the night." I leaned over to pick up my shoes, and lost my balance. Thor caught me, his large hand stabilizing me, and steadying me on my feet.

"Perhaps I should escort you to your suite, Ella Carmichael," he offered. I smirked at the weird way he said my name and shook my head.

"That's not necessary, but thanks." I opted to leave my heels off and padded across the deck in my bare feet, Angela close beside me. She stayed nearby, but quiet until we got to my suite. When I tried to swipe my passcard for access to my room, it didn't work. She pressed a few buttons on the keypad beside the passcard reader and nodded.

"When I saw the sparks coming off you, I figured your passcard would be fried. I'll bring up a new card before I go home, but in the meantime, the keycode is your birthday," she followed me into my suite. I pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and leaned against the counter, holding it to my forehead.

"Do you suppose I'm in a lot of trouble?" I groaned.

"From the look on Thor's face, I think probably. You certainly aren't a boring science geek, that's for sure," she laughed. I hung my head in defeat. "Question? Where are your glasses?" My hand flew up to my face, and sure enough, my glasses were gone. I looked at Angela, and back to my hand, and was surprised to see that my vision was almost in focus. It wasn't perfect, but it certainly was better than it usually was.

"They must have flown off," I guessed. There was a knock at my door. I walked over and opened it, letting Dr. Banner in. He held out my glasses to me. "Wow, that was perfect timing."

"You lost these," he offered. I took them and put them back on and blinked against the strength. I pulled them back off.

"Yeah, Angela had just noticed. Thank you, Dr. Banner," I murmured, holding my hand back up in front of my face.

"Bruce," he corrected. I smiled.

"Thank you, Bruce." I suddenly felt shy, concerned about what this remarkable, brilliant man, must be thinking about me. He probably thought I was a mess and was grateful he wouldn't be working with me.

"How do you feel?" His eyes focused on me, almost like he was assessing me. But he wasn't a medical doctor.

"Weird. Tingly. My ears are still ringing. My heart is kind of tight. Jumpy maybe?" I wasn't sure. He took my wrist and placed his fingers across the pulse point, looking over my shoulder at the clock on the wall. He flipped my hand over and pressed down on the nail bed of my thumb.

"Your pulse is pretty erratic. There's probably some sleepytime tea in your cupboard, it's part of the first grocery order when you move into the tower. Brew a pot and have a mug. The chamomile will help settle you," he suggested. I nodded, but made no move to go into the kitchen and find my kettle. Angela started opening cupboards to find the tea.

"Thanks again, Bruce." I felt a bit like a star-struck school girl, tongue-tied and so incredibly awkward.

"I have some experience with out of the ordinary." His smile was sad. "I should get back to the reception. I'm sure I'll see you around the labs." He excused himself and crossed back to the door, pulling it shut behind him. Angela handed me a slice of cheese and some crackers.

"Eat while the tea steeps," she ordered. "I didn't realize you had a thing for Bruce Banner." Her tone was light and teasing.

"Shut up!" I came back to myself, flushing. "I respect his intellect and –"

"And his artfully messy hair and deep, brooding eyes have nothing to do with it, right?" She laughed. I resisted the urge to throw my cheese at her.

"It certainly complicates things," I admitted. "When I was doing my undergrad, I used to have this fantasy where I would meet him because of my research and we would happily science together for the rest of our lives. I wasn't thinking about him being cute, I just really loved his approach to research and you know how sometimes when you have an awesome teacher you just kind of crush on them? His research was incredible."

"You seriously have a crush on Bruce Banner?" Angela handed me a steaming mug.

"I don't think, I don't know. Maybe? He's really nice. I wasn't expecting really nice. Sometimes the really brilliant guys are a little," I trailed off.

"Too much like Tony?" Angela filled in.

"Yeah. Brilliant and amazing, but they know it." I hadn't dated much in university because the guys who appealed to me the most had generally been like Tony. Brilliant, but arrogant. Not that I thought Tony Stark was a bad person. Not that I knew him well enough to make a generalization either way, actually. But Tony Stark had earned the right to be arrogant in a way that most of the guys I was in university with had not. And Tony Stark was unabashedly enthusiastic about the research and work of others. And that had also been missing from the men I'd known in university. As a result, I'd avoided dating, and instead developed a rockstar crush on Bruce Banner. "Anyhow. I had a crush on Bruce Banner. During my undergrad. He seems very nice. But I'm not a freshman anymore."

"Okay. Are you okay if I leave you, or do you need some help getting settled for the night?" Angela asked, her brow furrowed.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about bringing me another passcard tonight; we can do it in the morning. I'm going to draw a bath and have a soak. I'll see you for breakfast?" I wasn't sure I would find much on my own. The day had been such a whirlwind.

"Yes. I will pick you up and we'll hit the commissary. It's build your own waffle morning." She grabbed her purse from the counter and waved good night. I turned to the bathroom and started the water running in the ridiculously large bathtub and added an equally ridiculous amount of bubble bath. I stripped down out of my dress, and tied my hair back in a loose bun. I padded across the apartment and hung up my dress and realized things were getting blurrier. I stopped in the kitchen to grab my glasses and I was pleased to notice my crappy vision was considerably improved by putting my glasses back on. Our world was so different since the Battle of New York that I still had lingering concerns that I'd somehow stolen Thor's powers and become some sort of Super Science Nerd. While I was in the kitchen, I decided a glass of wine was in order. Whatever had shocked me when I picked up Thor's hammer had also sobered me right up. The tea had finished the job.

When I got back to the bathroom, the tub was ready. I finished stripping and slid under the bubbles, tension melting out of my shoulders as they hit the water.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The day wasn't a failure just because I'd picked up some magic hammer. I'd had a successful orientation with Angela and felt like there was the beginning of a real friendship there. Tony and Pepper seemed genuinely excited to have me at Stark Industries. Markus Reid was obscenely excited to have me on his team. I'd met Bruce Banner, which, although awkward, fulfilled a high school dream of mine. I'd been able to look into the eyes of the most beautiful man I'd ever laid eyes on. The grainy photos and lousy media coverage since the Battle of New York did not do Thor justice. I took a sip of wine. And added that to the list of awesome from the day. Stark Industries stocked their employee quarters with good wine.

There was a knock at the door. I sighed and pulled myself out of the tub. It was probably Angela dropping off a new passcard before she left for the night or headed back to the party. I wrapped myself in a towel and found the one thing Stark Industries wasn't doing really well for employees. The towel was just a touch too small. It just barely met at my hip and if I wanted my boobs covered, my butt cheeks hung out of the bottom. I checked the towel rack for a bigger one, but they were all the same.

The knock sounded at the door again. I sighed and hurried across the apartment. Angela would understand the huge amounts of skin I was showing. And would either know where I could find bigger towels or how to order some. I swung open the door without checking the peephole.

"I told you this could wait till the mor –" It wasn't Angela. I squeaked and jumped behind the door. To his credit, Thor didn't respond at all. He didn't leer, but he also didn't blush and turn away. Almost like he didn't even notice how little I had on. "I was not expecting you."

"I have lingering concerns about your well-being, Ella Carmichael. You should not have been able to wield Mjolnir. I would be assured that you are not ill affected." He stepped inside, and stopped, facing me. I pulled the door open a little wider, trying to cover myself.

"Uh, I appreciate your concern," I started, trying the tug the towel to cover more of me. "But really, I'm fine."

"You are quite pale." He stepped closer to me. I backed up and eyed the distance between me, him and the bathroom. He was completely obstructing my path. I clenched my teeth, and bit my lip.

"You seem quite determined to check on me. And I appreciate it. But I am wearing a really skimpy towel right now. Could you maybe turn your back for a minute so I can go put some clothes on?" I felt ridiculous, trying to hide behind my door. But there was just way too much of me showing. His gaze dropped to my shoulders and his eyes widened just a bit.

"I apologize. I forget how overmodest Midgardians can be about nudity." Again, he didn't look away. I could feel the flush spreading across my skin. I wasn't going to be pale for long if he kept staring at me. I cleared my throat and pointed to the couch when his eyes met mine. He smiled, and I think he rolled his eyes, but he acquiesced and walked over to the couch and dropped down on it. I flung the door shut and scampered across the room. I slipped in a puddle of water on my way into the bathroom, shrieked and landed on my ass, the towel trapped up me in a pile. To me eternal mortification, Thor was beside me in an instant. I tried to swat his hands away, but he scooped me from the floor and stood me back up, then bent down to hand me my towel. I was trying to cover my nudity as best as I could with my hands, and couldn't figure out how to grab the towel without somehow sprouting another arm.

"Uh, just –" I stammered. Thor's eyes met mine and he raised an eyebrow. Without breaking eye contact, he tucked the towel under the fingers covering my breasts and walked back out of the bathroom.


	4. Chapter 4

I had to wonder if the powers from Thor's hammer included allowing me to disappear into the floor so I would not have to face the source of my embarrassment again. I wanted to slam the bathroom door and lock it and hide until Thor left. But I somehow guessed his sense of chivalry would be too great to just leave me to die of embarrassment and he would do something stupid, like breaking down the door, to ensure I was okay, instead of just understanding I needed to lick my wounds in private. Particularly when he thought humans were prudish about nudity. Did they walk around in Thor-land buck naked all the time? I mean, if they all looked like Thor that might not be a bad thing. I was far too conscious of my lumps and cellulite and stretch marks to be okay with joining them in the nude party though.

I dropped the towel and looked at myself in the floor to ceiling mirror, trying to guess what he must have thought when he hauled me off the floor. I was pale. I'd been far too busy finishing my thesis to be out in the sun in the spring, and it was obvious by the way my arms were the same fish belly white as my stomach. The time spent in the lab showed on my tummy and hips and thighs, all of which were broader than they'd ever been before. My roommate had said curvier was a nicer word, but I knew exactly how many slices of pizza had contributed to each new curve, and the fact that none of that skin had seen the sun in months made me feel bigger. I couldn't lie and say I was completely unsatisfied with my body. I was just bigger than I'd been, and more uncomfortable in my skin. I'd promised myself I'd find some sort of activity to balance with my work life, for no other reason than for my health. I just didn't buy into hating myself because I didn't belong on the pages of a magazine. My body housed my brain, and my brain was pretty awesome. The rest was just packaging and resources for keeping my brain safe and at optimal function. But that was what I thought. I cast a critical eye on myself trying to figure out what Thor would have thought seeing me bare-assed on the floor. Given his impatience with my modesty, he probably hadn't thought much at all.

I pulled my pyjamas on, and had to laugh at myself. The spaghetti strapped tank-top and boxer shorts didn't cover much more than my towel had. But I couldn't cross the living room again to find something else if I ever wanted to get rid of the man-god sitting in my living room.

I steeled my courage and opened the bathroom door. He'd figured out how to turn on my television, and had stopped on what appeared to be a documentary about the Avengers Initiative. He laughed at the television and shook his head, then clicked it off when he realized I'd come into the room.

"Do you want something to drink?" I offered.

"I rather think you do not wish for me to stay that long, Ella Carmichael." He pushed himself off the couch and walked into the kitchen where I was refilling my wine glass.

"You know, you can just call me Ella. It's weird to use someone's first and last name," I commented. "Are you sure you don't want a drink? I hate to drink alone." I held the bottle up in offering. I could see him hesitate for a moment, probably contemplating the honour involved in drinking wine or something.

"If you insist," he smirked. I poured him a glass and came around the kitchen island to hand it to him. When he took the glass from me, he narrowed his eyes and took my wrist into his hand. He turned it over, palm facing up and ran his thumb across it. I'm not ashamed to admit I got goosebumps; it was more intimate than I'd been touched in recent memory.

"Have you always had that mark?" I realized he was running his thumb around my left hand in a pattern. I looked down, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"I can't see any mark." I pulled my hand away and held it under the bright light over the island. Nothing. Thor took my hand again and looked closer, and traced the design out again on my palm. He was seeing something that I was not. He dropped my hand and picked up the hammer from where he'd placed it on the floor by my front door. He put it carefully down on the granite countertop of the island, and pointed at a big fancy three pointed knot on the face of the hammer.

"This is called a triquetra. It is also on your hand. I would know how long it has been there," he explained. I shrugged.

"Well, I can't see anything at all. But that's the hand I picked up myewlnor with. Maybe it left a mark?" I knew I was completely butchering the name of the hammer, but god knows I couldn't remember how to say it.

"Mjolnir." Of course he would correct me.

"Mee-owl-neer?" I tried again.

"Mjolnir."

"M-yol-neer." I was reasonably sure I had it right that time. He nodded, and took my right hand in his, flipping the palm up. He traced his thumb around in the same pattern.

"It's on this hand as well. This is a mystery. I do not know you well, Ella, but Tony seems to think you quite intelligent. Intelligence is not all there is to worth. But it is perhaps somewhere to start," He pondered. I bit my lip.

"I don't know how you judge worthiness where you're from, but I'm not anything special. I don't run around rescuing kittens from trees, or saving maidens from dragons, or curing cancer. I can't even donate blood. I have some weird antibody." I protested. Thor's mouth cocked to one side in a grin.

"I have never done those things myself, and yet I am worthy. I will speak to my father," he determined. He finished his glass of wine.

"You appear well. Your colour has come back, and you no longer show the signs of shock. I bid you good rest, Ella Carmichael. Thank you for sharing your libation with me, and for indulging my concern," he bowed his head a little, hefted the hammer and turned. I followed him to the door. He turned as he crossed the threshold and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I will bring news once I have more understanding of what has happened."

XXX

"So Thor saw me naked last night." It was quite possibly the best first-line I've ever had. And I got to drop it on Angela as we walked through the build-a-Belgian-waffle line. She dropped her fork on the floor with a loud clatter.

"What? Naked? How?"

"Well, it all started when I had no clothes on," I began.

"Seriously, Ella. What happened?" She demanded.

"Seriously. I was taking a bath and he knocked on the door. I figured it was you with the passcard, even though I'd said it could wait. So I wrapped by uber-skimpy-Stark-Industries-micro-towel around me, figuring I'd be opening the door a crack and accepting a passcard from you. He was at the door. And he just invited himself in, plain as you like. Said he was concerned about me," I started. Angela shook her head, and as we walked through the waffle decorating station, I finished filling in all the details.

Once we were seated at a table, she took one of my hands and looked at it.

"I don't see it either," she sighed. "Do you suppose he has weird powers that let him see through things? Maybe that's why he didn't care that you were naked. Maybe he sees all of us as naked all the time."

"You're confusing him with Superman," I laughed. "He has x-ray vision."

"Superman is a comic book character! Thor is real! Who knows what all his powers are." She cut her waffle up and started in on it. I pushed my waffle around the plate a little and drank my coffee. I didn't like waffles. At all. I ate the mountain of fruit I'd piled on top of it, but couldn't bring myself to get into the waffle itself.

"Well, not making a big deal about naked women is one of them. He made it clear he thought my prudishness was weird."

"He's weird. Most men would be hard pressed to not scope you out, regardless of how cool they tried to appear," she stated, and then made a gesture that looked a little like jazz-hands. "Oh-em-gee! Boobies! Play it cool, dude. Play it cool, and she won't cover up and then? More Boobies!" Her fake-guy voice was hilarious.

I snorted on my coffee. "I'm hardly in peak physical condition. He probably was just horrified by the wiggly bits and stretch marks."

"I don't think they see past the boobies, to be completely honest," she laughed. I shook my head and finished my fruit. I'd effectively smushed up the waffle until it looked like I'd eaten some of it.

"What is on the agenda for me today, boss?" I changed the topic and drank my coffee. Angela pulled out a tablet and flicked through it.

"More orientation stuff. We're going to go to distribution, and learn how to requisition things for your project. And how to req for your apartment too. And how different the two forms are and how important it is to make sure you use the right form," she started. "Here's a hint. The importance of using the correct form is inversely proportional to how similar the forms are to one another. You won't believe that will take most of the morning, but it will. Then you're seeing Markus after lunch."

"Can I order bigger towels from distribution? Because the towels in my apartment are ridiculously small."

"I don't think so. But you can also requisition outside items from your in-suite purchasing app. Or I can just take you to Macy's after work," she suggested. "Are you not going to eat the waffle?"

"Confession?" I made a face. She nodded. "I hate waffles. They're like a pancake with a skin disease. Disgusting."

"I take back every nice thing I said about you. Waffles are amazing. Those are flavour pouches." The look on her face was enough to make me bite my lip to prevent the laughter from slipping free. She was gripping her table knife like she might actually stab me. It would be a sticky ignominious death by maple syrup.

"Flavour pustules, maybe. So gross. I'm more of a bacon and eggs girl," I admitted. Angela shook her head, her eyes cast downward in disappointment. She finally cracked the tiniest grin.

"Damn good thing you're funny. Because that might be a deal-breaker otherwise. Come on. Bus your table. Let's get you off to distribution so you can learn about the pedantry of requisitions." She winked and grabbed her tray, leading the way over to the kitchen cart before directing us back to the elevator.

Distribution might not have been mired down in red tape, bureaucracy and shenanigans if they'd had a single window. But they were located in a sub-level of the building, below the parkade, completely walled in. There was a single door in, and it was right beside the loading bay. The staff kind of looked like they were a lost race of mole people. They were pale, suspicious of visitors and seemed a little paranoid that the rest of the company was out to make their lives miserable on purpose. The main stock clerk all but hissed at us when we came in.

Angela made quick work of running through the requisition forms. There was a single line that delineated personal requisitions from project reqs, and it was required for payroll deduction where appropriate. It was fair enough, but wouldn't it have been simpler just to colour code the forms? I asked as much to Angela and she clamped her hand over my mouth.

"Do you want to be barred from ordering things? Don't rock the boat!" She hissed. "If you can control yourself, I want to show you heaven. This is the one thing that distribution does right." She led me over to a table that had a pile of different catalogues on it. "This is the only part of Stark Industries that is still analogue because catalogues are so much easier than websites. And here's where your colour coding idea comes into play. Blue catalogues are filled with workplace supplies, divided by shade of blue. The light blue cover is office supplies; the dark blue cover is electrical doodads, etc. You'll learn them as you need to. The yellow covers are personal items. Light yellow is Stark Industries branded stuff. I do most of my Christmas shopping in the light yellow. My dad has a thing for polo shirts and golf balls. Goldenrod is household items that are covered by your living allowance. Stuff like bedding, kitchen utensils, towels. I think there's a surround sound upgrade in there." She handed me a pencil and flipped the Goldenrod covered catalogue open to bathroom stuff. The towel page was dog-eared. Apparently I wasn't the only one who hated the mini-towels that came standard in the room. I filled in a requisition for towels and a plush bathrobe.

Angela brought me back to the stock clerk's desk and walked me through the process for submitting the order. It was complicated. I almost expected to need to know a secret handshake to complete the transaction.

"So that should all be delivered before the day is over." She led me back out of the department. True to her word, the distribution department and requisition in-service had taken us almost to lunch. We stepped off the elevator on the floor for my research division. "I figured I'd show you your desk before we eat lunch."

We rounded a corner into the lab area. The space was wide open, from window to window. There were workstations at the periphery of the room. I assumed the conspicuously empty one was mine, but Angela walked right past it to a desk that was covered in stuff. There was a pile of paperwork on one corner that at first glance I thought was probably the information relating to my proposals. The desk itself was one of the Stark Industries touch responsive computers that I'd been desperate to try since the first time I saw one. The monitor was carefully suspended from the ceiling, keeping the desk as clear as possible. On the far side of desk was a small cactus with a little plastic welcome stick pressed into the dirt, and a box of office supplies.

Angela made quick work of logging me into the computer. The log in sequence unlocked the desk drawers, so I was able to clear my desktop with one sweep of my arm into the top drawer. Angela sucked in her breathe in response to the action.

"I will organize myself later. For now, that desk needs to be clear, if I'm ever going to work at it," I explained. She grabbed the cactus protectively and held it away from my reach.

"Promise you won't hurt the plant," she demanded.

"Sure," I agreed. She put the plant back down and disappeared across the lab, quickly returning with what looked like a shelf. While I watched, she mounted it to the window behind my desk. How she did it was a mystery, it looked like it was just hanging there. Some sort of mysterious Stark Tech, I suppose. She took the cactus and placed it on the corner of the shelf, her shoulders square in defiance of my otherwise blasé organizational skills. As though she already knew that I wasn't going to organize my desk drawers later. I looked over at the desk beside me and saw that all the way down the bank of windows, there were shelves mounted against the windows, holding the various personal treasures of the employees assigned to each desk. My shelf looked kind of boring with just the cactus on it.

"Okay, let's get lunch. You've got your meeting with Markus in 45 minutes." Angela steered me back out of the lab and over to the elevator.


	5. Chapter 5

Markus, as it turned out, was the goofiest guy I was likely to ever meet. His passion for clean energy was matched only by his passion for collecting vintage pop cans. He was the only person on the team who had an office, and it was cluttered with partially finished projects, and mountains of proposals. And his bookshelf had not a single book on it, but instead was lined with pop cans, right back to the dawn of canned carbonated beverages. It was impressive. He pulled his chair around to sit beside me instead of across the table. And in a move that proved the clutter to be a highly efficient filing system, he pulled my proposals from the middle of one of the stacks of papers.

"Your three proposals have all been greenlit by Pepper and Tony, but I won the coin toss, so I get you first. I suspect that your green washer was your back-up proposal, but I love it. I think it's important to make clean energy available to every household. Your washing machine is economical to build, and that will make it accessible to all income levels. But it also takes into consideration some pretty fantastic advancements in water reclamation. I was impressed in the various disciplines you worked with to put the proposal together, some clearly not your areas." His speech was relaxed. He flipped through my proposal, certain areas highlighted.

"I've lived in university residences for the last nine years. I assure you, access to a space and energy efficient washing machine at an affordable price was something I got quite passionate about as more and more of my clothing was destroyed by or stolen from the communal machines," I laughed.

"I was particularly impressed with the water reclamation technology you managed to build into the machine. That's usually a very cumbersome apparatus." He flipped to the schematics I'd included in the proposal.

"I took inspiration from Mr. Stark's arc reactor miniaturization, and consulted with one of the senior engineering professors to ensure my calculations wouldn't decrease the output capacity," I explained.

"You were only of the only applicants who not only admitted to consulting, but credited the colleagues you consulted with. My department is a well-oiled machine, and every person has a role to play. Your dedication to teamwork is why I pushed for you to work on this project first. Well, and that it's really cool." His compliments were making me feel overwhelmed again. I shook my head and looked away. "What's wrong?"

"I'm worried about the fall-out when you all discover I'm not as amazing as you think I am." My laugh was stilted. He clapped me on the back.

"By the time that happens, we'll have the washer on the market and you'll have secured your place at Stark," he laughed. His comment made me smile, but it was seriously terrifying to have so many really amazing people telling me that I was awesome. I was untested, fresh from school and so inexperienced. The only reason I hadn't hidden in academia longer and gone on to my PhD was because I wasn't exactly sure what I would do with a PhD in engineering that I couldn't do with a Master's.

"What are the other interns like? I didn't get a chance to meet them last night," I asked. Markus's forehead wrinkled in thought.

"Well, one of them no-showed. So we're down to two of you. And the other seems okay. Arrogant. Maybe a little too arrogant. I looked over his proposal and passed on it. It seemed way too easy to weaponize," he explained.

"Which one is he?" I had a hard time believing someone would give up the opportunity of this internship, but I understood the feelings of inadequacy that came with the pressure of accepting on a visceral level. I probably feel somewhere between the guy who showed and the guy who didn't on the confidence scale. So I was desperately curious about the one who showed up. Know the competition, and all.

"The kid who proposed the mag-lev technology for automobiles. His proposal discusses crumbling infrastructure, and suggests that a mag-lev device in the shocks of vehicles would help protect the structural integrity of vehicles. He completely neglected to mention that it would also be helpful to the military in hostile situations where IEDs and mines can compromise troop safety. I wouldn't have been suspicious about the proposal at all if he'd included that application and some research on it, but it was really conspicuous in its absence. I think the first thing Tony has asked him to do is flesh out the proposal with the appropriate defense department research. Like we've all said, you're a stand out." It was in that moment that I finally clued into why I was feeling so out of sorts. I wasn't used to being recognized and lauded for my work. I was used to producing and working hard. I was used to long hours of research, long hours of application, long hours of revision. But I wasn't used to even five minutes of praise like I'd been receiving since I showed up at Stark Industries. And as a result, I felt uncomfortable.

"Can I get you to do me a favour?" I asked, suddenly changing the subject.

"Is it legal?" Markus countered.

"Can you dial back the compliments? I appreciate that you are impressed with me and excited about my work. But I'm not used to anyone being thrilled with me like everyone here seems to be. I feel like an imposter. It's a lot of pressure." It felt good to say the words aloud. Markus leaned back in his chair. He crossed his arms, and just looked at me. Assessed me. Then he nodded.

"Sure, kid. No more endorsements, praise or approval until you prove yourself," he agreed. "I give that about a week." I think he thought he'd mumbled the last part quietly enough that I didn't hear him. I let out a huff of resignation and shook my head.

"I appreciate it, Markus." I pushed myself out of my chair. As frustrating as I found the golden child treatment to be, I could step back and appreciate it more knowing Markus was going to let me find my feet. I shook his hand again and headed back out, astonished to see how much time had passed while I was meeting him. Angela was back at my desk, and was holding a paper bag.

"I intercepted the distribution delivery to your room. Check out the towels you ordered." She handed me the bag. I pulled a towel out and snapped it open. It was even smaller than the towels I already had.

"This said it was a bath sheet in the order book," I protested. Angela laughed.

"Well, now you have hand towels for eternity. Let's go get you some decent sized towels. Can't have Thor seeing you in the altogether again, can we?" She linked arms with me, and started to lead me away from my desk. I barely had a chance to grab my purse and the bag of towels before she dragged me off. "I just need to drop this file off for Pepper, so we're on our way up before we go down."

We were intercepted in the elevator by a woman who was obviously fed up with the guy who was with her. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her mouth was set in a thin line. Every time she breathed it was like she was counting in her head. Slowly in, slowly out. I guessed it was my fellow intern, and I wasn't wrong.

"Ladies." He winked at Angela and smirked at me. I bit my lip and tried to hold back a snort of amusement. What a dork. Angela smiled at the woman with him.

"Marie! How is day two going? Are you settling Matt in?"

"You could say that. We're just headed up for a little chat with Ms. Potts about policy and procedure," she nodded. I looked at Angela in alarm. We hadn't done that. Angela met my panicked look with a serene one, and just barely shook her head.

"Ella, this is Marie. She works in the same capacity as I do, and has been assigned to orient the other intern to Stark Industries. Matthew Emerson is from MIT. Ella came from CalTech," Angela offered. Matthew offered his hand and gave me a once over that was overtly unprofessional. I rolled my eyes.

"A pleasure, Ella. I'm sure we'll be seeing much more of one another over the summer." The way he said it made me want to bathe in bleach. I forced a smile and withdrew my hand from his sweaty grip. I turned back to the front of the elevator without saying anything in return.

The elevator stopped on the 77th floor and the doors opened. Thor stepped on, munching on what appeared to be a pop-tart, and nodded at us. He pushed the button for the top floor. Apparently we were all headed up to see Tony and Pepper. He was holding the hammer loosely in his grip, and the way the light caught on the surface, I could see the writing on it again. My mind flashed back to the moment I'd lifted it, and the shock that had coursed through my body.

"So, Ella. You don't look like a CalTech girl," Matt started. I gave him a questioning look. "I would expect you to be beach ready, with a perfect California tan. Tan lines optional." He winked. I turned faced him.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, come on. We all know you only got the internship because you're the closest thing to attractive out of the women applicants. Pepper needed a sort of pretty chick for the face of her Women in STEM campaign. I just figured you'd be more summer girl than science girl." His laugh was a derisive snort. Before I could respond, he slapped my ass. I saw red. The rage bubbled up so quickly, I wasn't even sure where it came from. But I'd been dealing with asshats like him since I'd started university and I was not going to let his type win this round. I set my jaw and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back and pushing him into the wall. He made another disgusting comment. I'm not entirely sure what happened next, but when I came back to myself, I was standing over him, panting, and holding Mjolnir in my left hand.

"Ella!" Angela reached for me. Thor put a hand up and prevented her from getting close. The elevator doors opened and Pepper and Tony were greeted with what was probably the strangest tableau they'd ever seen. The god of thunder looking on hopelessly as a raging intern held his hammer over the other intern. I could feel the lightning from the handle coursing through me again, but this time it wasn't as painful or startling. It snapped me back to the present. I looked down at my hand in surprise and back up to Thor, meeting his gaze. I held out my hand without breaking eye contact. He took the hammer from me, and held out his other hand to stop the elevator door from closing on us.

"I don't recall seeing anger management issues in your background," Tony had come over to investigate.

"It was a warranted response, Tony. The boy spoke vulgarly." Thor was in my corner, even if he was irritated that I kept stealing his hammer. Tony looked at Angela, who nodded.

"We were just on our way up to drop off this file," Angela held the folder out to Pepper, who accepted it. She stepped back onto the elevator, and pulled me to the back with her. I think she was hoping we'd get away with leaving.

"And you?" Tony looked at Marie. Marie stepped off the elevator and gestured for Matt to follow her. He scuttled past me and pulled himself to his feet.

"Matt needs a policy and procedure orientation," she replied. "From Pepper." Tony raised an eyebrow, and in that moment, I realize that was code for something else completely. He stepped aside and let Marie and Matt pass him. Angela leaned over to punch the button to return us to the ground floor.

"Not so fast," Tony intercepted the attempted escape. "Ella is going to have to explain exactly how it was she came to be holding the hammer. Again. You don't need to stick around though, Angela." I sighed and stepped off the elevator, anticipating the worst. Tony led me over to the far side of the room, to the bar. Thor had followed, wordlessly. He dropped a couple of ice cubes into a pair of glasses and poured two drinks. He handed one to Thor and the other to me.

"Vodka, rocks, right?" He confirmed. I nodded. He nodded at a chair and I sat, smoothing my skirt over my knees. "Elizabeth Carmichael. Who exactly are you?"


	6. Chapter 6

I looked from Tony to Thor and back to Tony.

"I don't understand your question," I responded, and threw back the drink. To hell with being moderate. I was pretty sure I was about to lose my dream job on my second day, I may as well go out with a bang.

"Ella, there has to be something special about you to allow you to lift that hammer," Tony spoke slowly. That was probably a bad thing. I suspected slow speech meant a really active brain. I was now a mystery that needed to be solved.

"There is nothing special about me at all," I argued.

"You can lift Mjolnir. That is special." Thor was like a sage who spoke in riddles.

"But being able to lift Mjolnir isn't what makes me special enough to lift it. That's a redundancy." I, like Tony, was slipping into scientific method in order to try to sort things out.

"Do you have Aesir blood, Ella?" Thor asked.

"My family is from Washington. By way of Wisconsin," I replied. Tony snorted and Thor shot him a dirty look.

"Before this Wisconsin?" He pressed. The way he said Wisconsin made it sound unfamiliar and strange.

"Norway and England."

"Norway. That is where the Northmen resided." Thor looked thoughtful. "In the time of the Vikings, the Aesir traveled on Midgard much more frequently than they do now."

"Are you suggesting that some ancestor of mine got knocked up by a god?" I could feel my eyebrow rising. Tony smothered a smirk behind his hand. My tone was lost on Thor.

"We are not gods, Ella," Thor corrected. "And I am unfamiliar with knocked up. What I suggest is that your ancestor was impregnated by an Aesir."

"But in order to lift your hammer, wouldn't it have to be you that got this mystery ancestor pregnant? I'd have to be your descendent?" I could feel the blood draining from my face. It would be just my luck that the hottest guy I'd ever seen would be related to me. Thor's smile was mischievous.

"Not necessarily. I would have discovered offspring of mine on Midgard by now, and I know I left none. But I think it reasonable to consider you may have Aesir blood in your veins," he explained. "Which makes you very special indeed."

"Can everyone in Asgard lift your hammer?" I asked. Thor shook his head.

"None but I."

"Then I don't buy it. I keep telling people, I'm nothing special." I was getting frustrated with the scrutiny. I never thought I would be desperate for a cute guy to stop paying attention to me, but in that moment, I would have given anything to be able to just go hide in obscurity in the lab, building my washing machine.

"But that's where you're wrong, Ella," Tony interrupted. I'd nearly forgotten he was there, Thor had such powerful bearing. I didn't think it was possible to lose track of Tony Stark, but I guess in the presence of not-actually-gods… "You are something special. That's why Pepper and I leaped on your application like we did. How did you make it through university with such a bad self image?"

"I don't have a bad self image. I know I'm a fucking amazing engineer. I just fail to see a correlation between my ability to understand math and build things and my purported mystical ability to lift a magic hammer," I snapped. I turned back to Thor. "You're sure no one else can lift it?" Thor glanced at Tony, almost as though he was looking for approval. Tony gave a slight nod.

"I believe that Captain Rogers would be able to lift it, should he have the opportunity. But that remains untested," Thor admitted. I sighed.

"Of course. He's a legit hero. Full of righteousness and honour and nobility." My tone was more sarcastic that I'd intended.

"Yes, intangible and arbitrary measures of worthiness. Who is to say you don't meet the parameters in some way?" Thor shot back. I looked into my empty glass, wishing it were still full.

"Did you not see me level that d-bag in the elevator?"

"Tis nothing I would not have done myself, and yet I am still worthy," Thor shrugged. Pepper had walked it at some point during the conversation, and Tony turned to her expectantly. She sighed and blinked slowly.

"We've had a discussion about appropriate professional behaviour. He is aware that if there are any further incidents he will lose his internship." Pepper reached out for the glass of wine Tony was offering her.

"It's a bit of a PR nightmare if we lose a second intern in as many days, Pep," Tony commented.

"It's a worse nightmare if, right as we're rolling out a gender equality program and girl's STEM mentorship program, the media gets ahold of information about how we're allowing someone guilty of sexual harassment to remain in a prestigious and competitive internship," she retorted. He pursed his lips and paused. After a moment in nodded in agreement.

"What do I know? You're the boss." His acquiescence was met with laughter from Pepper.

"What do you know, Tony? How many times did you attend the SHIELD seminar again?" She choked on her wine. "Trust me. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. He's a smart guy, and I'd like to think he'll be respectful from now on." Tony responded with some other comment and I slumped back into my seat, watching the show. If you didn't know they were stupidly in love with one another, you might assume they were on the verge of war. But I think Tony liked to goad Pepper, and she rose to the bait. Not because she was gullible though. At least, I didn't think it was because she was easily duped. I think she rose to the bait because it was how they clicked together. I looked away from them and over to Thor, who was sitting back on the couch, completely relaxed. The hammer was propped up beside him, handle leaning against the bolster. It was uncanny how powerful he looked, even in jeans and a t-shirt. I relaxed a little and just enjoyed looking at him, taking in the contours of his biceps, and the definition of the veins in his hands. There was a lot of him to look at, and it was all very pleasing to the eye. At least, everything I'd seen thus far.

I didn't realize how overt I was being until he smirked. He turned to look at me, and nodded.

"Is it not considered poor manners on Midgard to stare at others?" There was a teasing tone to his voice, but I blinked and looked away, feeling my cheeks colour.

There was really no way for me to deny that I was staring at him. The only blank wall in the entire place was right behind him. I couldn't even beg being distracted by some of the weird art that seemed to be all over the building.

"I, uh, well," I stammered. "I was looking at the hammer?" It sounded like bullshit, even to me. I heard a stifled laugh from Tony and shot him a filthy look. I pushed myself to my feet and glanced at Pepper. "If you don't need me, Pepper, I'm going to try to catch up with Angela. I have some things I need to pick up for my suite."

"You can order anything you need from distribution," Tony offered.

"Except, apparently, towels bigger than a postage stamp," I retorted. My ears were burning and I was having a really hard time not looking over to see if Thor was following the conversation. He probably was as there was no one else for him to pay attention to.

"You are aware there's varying sizes of towel?" Tony's tone was sarcastic. I rolled my eyes.

"Not that this is really a conversation I feel I want to have with my boss, but I grabbed the biggest one. It still barely covered me." I was ready to pray for a hole to open in the floor and swallow me.

"Well, you're not exactly supposed to be lounging around in your tow –"

"I wasn't!" I interrupted. "I was just getting out of the shower when Thor showed up and I didn't have time to be getting fully dressed before I answered the door, and then the towel slipped and oh my god I cannot believe I'm telling you all this." I took a deep breath and looked back to Pepper. "Can I go? Please?"

"Let me walk you to the elevator," she offered and led the way. As we walked away, I heard Tony clear his throat.

"You've seen her naked already, you sly dog?"

"That is enough, Stark. How you have lived so many years on this realm and not noticed how modest some of your women are, I have no idea. But you embarrassed her. Like many Midgardians, she lacks comfort with the physical form." Thor's words were a chastisement, and I somehow felt even more embarrassed about him having seen me naked. Because now, not only was I naked in front of the freaking Norse god of thunder, but also he took more notice of what a prude I am than that I was naked. I leaned against the wall and banged my head against it.

"That's not how you call the elevator," Pepper teased. "I know we all collectively keep telling you to relax, but, yeah. Relax. If Tony is already giving you a hard time, he's assimilating you into his world as a permanent fixture. This will be something you laugh about in future years." Her eyes were warm with empathy and it was so reassuring.

"You seriously need to do something about the towel situation, Pepper." I stepped onto the elevator and pushed the button for my floor. Once the doors shut, I texted Angela to see how far she'd got without me. I didn't have to wait long. I was swiping my passcard to get into my room when she stepped off the elevator.

"So, towels? Maybe a beer?" She followed me into my apartment.

"Yes. To both."

XXX

For whatever reason, I expected getting beer with Angela would be more Sex-in-the-City than it was. She pulled me into a quiet bar after we'd found appropriate towels, and we ordered wings from the kitchen and beer.

"So I did some research today while you were meeting with Markus," she volunteered over a heap of wing bones. I made a noise that was easily interpretable as curiosity and she continued. "I might have hacked some of Tony's files about that hammer. Thor wasn't kidding around when he said you shouldn't be able to lift it. It was apparently forged in the heart of a dying star, of some crazy space-metal. And the Odin enchanted it so only Thor could lift it. Which is clearly a broken enchantment because apparently you can lift it too."

"It says right on it that if you're worthy, you can lift it," I corrected her with my mouth full.

"Obviously it doesn't take table manners into consideration!" She laughed. I hung my head in mock-shame, but made sure my mouth was clear before I spoke again.

"I don't know how it determines worthiness. Honestly, isn't that a little creepy? Is the hammer sentient? Does it consider the merits of each individual that touches it in that split second between grabbing it and trying to lift it? Or does Odin have some sort of approval system for worthiness, and he gets interrupted from whatever it is he's doing to approve people in that same fraction of an instant?" I pondered.

"Way to ruin magic with science," she groaned.

"_Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. That's Clarke's Third Law. The other two are pretty good too," I shrugged._

_"Oh, that was a kill shot! Come on, let me have some sort of fantasy about the mystical powers of the damn hammer, Ella!" Angela threw her hands up in frustration. I smiled and nodded._

_"Of course. The hammer is mystical and powerful and absolutely should not be questioned," I acceded. Angela swatted at me and flagged the waitress over for another round. I felt myself relaxing and forgetting about the overwhelming stress of the past couple of days as we decompressed over a second beer. When Angela dropped me back at the tower, I realized she may very well live on-site as well, but I was tired and had a bit of a beer buzz and forget to ask before stumbling through my door and crashing on the sofa._


	7. Chapter 7

I propped the stuffed toy next to my cactus and put my coffee on my desk before checking in with Markus. His smile was too knowing when he looked at me and I could hear he was humming something for my direct benefit. Unfortunately for him, his sense of tone was lacking, and the song was lost on me.

"Come on! You've got to know that song!" He exclaimed.

"I might. I'm just not sure what it is you're trying to sing," I teased. I was feeling sassy. His smile turned into a playful grimace.

"Fine. Another time," he conceded. "You should see if Tony can figure out a way to make you your own hammer though."

"Ah, so that's gone around, has it?" I sighed.

"How could it not? Not only can you lift the hammer, you can snatch it away from Thor when you're threatened? It's like you're Super Science Girl. Able to calculate pi to a hundred places in 2.3 seconds and wields Mjolnir like a badass," he winked. "Any other tricks I should know about?"

"I've been in school for the last decade. You tell me," I laughed. "Can take notes in boring lectures while sleeping, I guess."

"Good talent to have," he chuckled. "I was proofing the plans on the washer, and I found some additional options to look into for cheaper costing. You probably wouldn't have been aware of them because they're Stark Industries proprietary items, but I've tossed it to your desktop. It might allow you to use a stronger alloy in the end product. Check back with me before you confirm the preliminary supplies order."

"Sure." I figured I'd been dismissed. Markus was looking like a cool boss so far.

"I kinda wish you'd broken his arm, Ella." With those words, he started humming again, and I knew I was dismissed. I stepped out of his office into Dr. Banner.

"Oh, sorry, Dr. Banner!" I gasped.

"Really, you can call me Bruce." He reached out a hand to stabilize me. I suddenly felt shy and nodded quickly before hurrying back to my desk. He followed me. "I was actually here to speak to you. Tony would like to run a genetic marker analysis on you."

I couldn't help it, I laughed. "Of course he does. He knows you aren't that kind of doctor, right?"

"Well, I did some medical work while I was off the grid. Anyhow, I've done a lot of work in genetics, so I am qualified to assess your DNA," he explained. I smirked. "What?"

"Why Doctor Banner, if you wanted to get into my genes, why didn't you say so?" I winked. "By all means, lead the way." The way he flushed was worth the anxious tight feeling in my chest when I said it. He looked away and took a deep breath. When he looked back at me, his cheeks were bright, but he had the straight man look going on.

"Angela will bring you down to the lab after 1400, Ella." He was right to the point. Ouch.

"Sure." I nodded, suddenly feeling a little sick for having taken the risk of flirting. I turned back to my desk and picked up my coffee, to hide my mortification.

"Who is that supposed to be?" He asked. I looked back at him, unsure what he meant. He nodded at the stuffed toy beside my cactus.

"Shakespeare. Duh." And points to me for my hidden depths. I didn't feel quite as embarrassed.

"You should name the cactus Horatio." With that suggestion, he turned and left the lab. I finished my coffee and opened up the file Markus had sent over.

XXX

"You're in my light." The shadow Angela was casting across my workspace made it hard for me to see what I was doing. Soundlessly, she shifted to the left. I dropped the last miniature screw into place and fastened it into the motor I was working on.

"What is that?"

"Flux Capacitor," I deadpanned.

"Oh, I suppose if your laundry gets up to 88 mile per hour it will transport into the future?" She didn't miss a beat.

"No, silly. To the past, where it gets replaced with the same article of clothing, only when it was new," I teased. She shook her head and smiled.

"Come on, asshole. Your destiny awaits." She didn't even wait for me to tidy up. I swept my mess into an empty drawer and prayed there wouldn't be a desk inspection. Two days and I already had two cluttered drawers of crap. I locked the motor carefully in a storage drawer near the front of the lab. It allowed me to flag a message to Markus to let him know it was there if he wanted to look at it. Angela was waiting at the elevator, holding the door open, when I caught up.

"Pepper has booked time with you on Friday to go over this STEM initiative. And then on the weekend, she's got you booked for a photo shoot for the roll out of the program," she began. "So I've told Markus I need you Friday afternoon for a make-over."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't need a make-over. That's false advertising. I should look how I look when I'm working. Jeans, t-shirt, frequently barefoot, ponytail, no make-up."

"Do I look like the kind of woman that supports false advertising?" She laughed. "All I'm going to do is take you out so you can get your hair trimmed and buy some new clothes. No drastic changes to your personal style, no crazy new hairstyles."

"Oh." I was dumbfounded. "Well, okay. I need to get my eyebrows waxed anyhow."

"Maybe we'll get you a pair of shoes. Barefoot is a safety hazard." Her look was thoughtful.

"Don't push your luck," I warned, but I was smiling. I could probably use a new pair of sneakers too, truth be told. The elevator opened on a different lab, but the only reason I knew that was the case was because it was different people working at the desks. Otherwise the layout and atmosphere was identical. Bruce was on the far side of the lab, in the same office space that Markus occupied on my floor. His office was neat as a pin, nothing out of place, and very little in the way of personal effects. Even knowing as little as I did about Bruce's history, I could understand the need for order. He was deeply engrossed in reading a document, and motioned for me to sit without looking up. I glanced at Angela, who nodded and left the room. I allowed that I should get comfortable. I made every effort to look anywhere but at Bruce while he finished reading the file in front of him, and eventually my eye was drawn to the ceiling, where a poster of some sort of wilderness paradise was stuck. There were evergreen trees, and mountains, and a lake. It looked serene and calm and beautiful. I tilted my head all the way back and started counting tree tops to pass the time. Eventually, Bruce cleared his throat. I snapped my head back and faced him.

"So I was just reading your personnel file and application for the internship. It was pretty thorough on your educational background, but if we're going to solve this mystery about the hammer, we're going to need more. So I want to do a cheek swab and analyze your DNA. But I think we should probably do some background research on your family too." He came around the desk and stood in front of me. He held out a popsicle stick. "If you could just open your mouth."

I dropped my jaw and looked up at him as he scraped the inside of my cheek. He dropped the stick into a sterile container and leaned back on his desk.

"Before we go ahead and violate you privacy with the kind of searches that Tony has access to, we should try to flesh out your personal history. I'd like to get a complete picture of your medical background," he started, and reached for one of those assessment machines like you see in a hospital. I blanched.

"I had to have a physical before I was accepted for the internship. I don't need another one," I protested. Bruce's eyes snapped back up, shocked.

"I have no intention of doing a physical assessment beyond basic vital signs. Like you've already pointed out, I'm not that kind of doctor. I want to run you through some questions about your medical history though," he reassured me. I held my arm out and allowed him to take my blood pressure. He checked my other vital signs quickly, almost like he suspected I was about to bolt. I wasn't going to, but I wasn't really comfortable.

"I'm going to run through a list of a bunch of diseases and disorders. Stop me if you have ever suffered from any of them," he began. I nodded. "heart disorders, high blood pressure, cancer, peripheral vascular disease, liver disease, kidney disease, diabetes, hepatitis, asthma, colit –"

"Save your breath, Bruce. I've never been sick," I interrupted. He raised an eyebrow.

"Ever?"

"I was immunized as a kid," I shrugged.

"Common cold? Stomach bugs?" He pressed. I shook my head.

"I have an incredibly robust immune system. The specialist I saw said it probably had to do with the weird antibody in my blood," I offered.

"What weird antibody?" He asked.

"The blood service discovered it when I donated blood when I was 19. They ran a bunch of tests on it, but it's not something they'd ever seen before. And then the fun started, and I got to be part of an experimental study of people with weird antibodies. The scientists exposed our blood to a bunch of low-level pathogens to see how the antibody reacted. Mine destroyed anything that wasn't clearly me. At one point they were discussing synthesizing it and testing it as some sort of cure-all, but they couldn't take me out of the equation, and it continued to destroy everything in its path," I explained. Bruce's head tilted to one side, and his eyes narrowed in thought.

"Thor's theory is that you have Aesir blood." He tapped his pen on his teeth.

"Because my mum's side of the family is Norwegian. That seems a bit reaching," I argued.

"Was anyone else in your family tested for this antibody?" He pressed.

"Yeah, both my parents, and my two sisters. No one else had it. So even if Thor was right, Mum, Tree and Rad would have had it too. And they don't," I shrugged.

"Tree and Rad?"

"Theresa and Radley are my younger twin sisters," I clarified. He nodded and scribbled something on his notepad. It was weird to see someone use a pen and paper in a Stark Industries lab. We were all given such high-tech gadgetry on hire. I kind of liked the way Bruce stuck with what he knew and was comfortable with. It was probably a last hold-out from when he'd gone off the grid, storing his thoughts and work offline, where it wouldn't attract interest.

"Any other living relatives on your mother's side who were tested? Did they test your father?"

"By the time the study was finished, all four of my grandparents had been sampled, Dad had been sampled, his brothers and sister, my mum's cousins. It was pretty invasive. The researchers were very determined to get a sample from one of us that they could synthesize. The implications were pretty far reaching. Had they been able to isolate the antibody and eliminate my DNA from it, they would have basically had a universal cure for disease. All disease," I explained.

"And you think you aren't special?" Bruce wondered.

"It's not something I did. I was just born this way." I didn't think it was that special. "In the end, it helped no one. So it's not really that special, is it?"

"This was what, four or five years ago?" He asked. I laughed.

"Ten," I corrected. His eyes widened.

"I guess I'm showing my age. I wouldn't have thought you were –" he paused. "There's just no way for me to say this without sounding like I'm insulting you. I'm sorry."

I laughed again. "It's okay. No one believes I'm nearly thirty. If I don't pull my hair back I look about 16."

"This particular field of study has come a long way in the last ten years," he redirected back to the topic. "It's possible that there's a way to isolate that antibody now."

"The scientists involved in the study revisit the data every couple of years, and request new swabs from me and blood samples. It's gone nowhere," I confirmed. "It's gone nowhere, so really, I'm not special. I'm not. I'm just a smart kid with a kick ass immune system."

"You are so much more than that, Ella." He shook his head and made some more notes. "I'm going to try to track down the previous research and have a look at what was done. There might be some way to track where the antibody came from. And we have Thor now, so we can draw a sample from him and see if that antibody is present in his blood. At the very least, I'll be able to determine if you do have Aesir blood."

"Sure," I nodded.

"I mean, if you're okay with that."

"I'm okay with it, Bruce. It's a little weird, but I'm okay with it." I nodded. Bruce made quick work of drawing a number of vials of blood from me, and then allowed me to leave. Angela met me in back at my desk and dragged me away for dinner before I could protest.


	8. Chapter 8

The miniaturized motor worked better than I'd calculated it would. I'm not sure it was because of the improved materials I had access to, or because I'd made some grave miscalculation in my original proposal. I suspected it was the improved materials though, as I wasn't prone to math errors and I'd gone over that proposal about fifty different ways to make sure there were no obvious mistakes. You want to be flawless when you know Tony Stark is going to be checking your work.

Markus clapped me on the back and laughed. "It's brilliant, Ella. It will be more efficient than you'd initially calculated, and will further drop your overhead!"

"Except these materials have a higher cost centre," I protested. Markus grabbed my tablet and opened up the scratch pad feature. He scribbled a bunch of numbers down, worked through the equation and circled the final number.

"That looks like a cost saving in the end. The efficiency of the motor overcompensates for the increased material cost. Really well done, Ella," he complimented. "I would like to point out that I have held off on giving any praise for over two weeks while you worked on this."

I laughed. "Yeah, you're the best boss ever, Markus. All kidding aside, I appreciate that you respected that I needed a settling in period."

"We're what? 17 days without a hammer related incident, you've built a fabulous thing, and Banner hasn't come back to you with any outrageous claims about your heritage. Maybe you are just garden variety brilliant, instead of superhero special," he teased. Neither of us had noticed Bruce coming up behind us as we were observing the motor work.

"Don't speak too soon, Markus. I need to steal Ella away to go over the DNA results," Bruce interrupted. My heart leaped into my chest, but I wasn't sure if it was nerves, being startled by his voice or his actual presence.

"I'll lock this up, Ella. Go get your supersuit measurements done," Markus teased. I shot him a warning look and pursed my lips. Without further comment to him, I followed Bruce to the elevator. We rode silently back to his lab's floor and I followed him to his office, the sense of dread building in my chest when I saw Thor pacing across the room. Bruce pulled the door shut behind us, and I noticed that there'd been an addition to his office, in the form of one of the promotional posters from Pepper's Women in STEM campaign. I looked completely at ease in the fake lab setting, and I looked like me. True to her word, Angela had not forced me into make-up and hair style hell to get ready for the photo shoot. I looked from the poster back to Bruce and then back to the poster again, wondering what on earth had motivated him to put up a Women in STEM poster in his office.

"Have a seat, Ella," Bruce nodded toward one of the chairs, but remained standing himself.

"I'm not sitting if you two aren't," I refused. Thor shrugged and folded himself up into the chair beside me. There was just so much of him, it looked awkward. I glanced back at Bruce and he sighed and flopped into his chair. I finally sat down.

"Your DNA results were very interesting. More interesting once we compared them to Thor's." Bruce looked decidedly uncomfortable.

"Oh?" I shot a sidelong glance at Thor. He also was looking very uncomfortable. A heavy silence hung in the room and suddenly I realized what was going on. "Oh my god, it is him I'm related to?" It just figured. Tall, blond and pretty was my great-something-granddad.

"Not exactly." Bruce was hedging. I narrowed my eyes and clenched my jaw in response.

"Stop beating around the bush and just tell me already." I had been waiting on this for over two weeks, having it cloud my head and make me worry. Thor swallowed and took a deep breath.

"We are kin, after a manner, Ella," he began. "But not by blood."

"What does that even mean? I mean, obviously it confirms I have Aesir blood, but that was the hypothesis being tested anyhow, so how is this surprising?" I was so confused.

"You are not part Aesir. You are part Jotun. Of my brother's line," Thor explained. I turned to face him, and the serious and somber look on his face gave me pause.

"You're my great-something uncle?" I needed clarification.

"I am your uncle. Loki is your father." The way he said it, it was like a death sentence. The name was familiar, but I wasn't sure why, and then I had a flash of realization.

"Loki the trickster god? From Norse mythology?" I asked. Thor nodded. "Loki the one who birthed the eight-legged horse, and the wolf, and the snake, and the queen of the dead? That Loki?" Thor nodded again.

"He has other children as well," Thor began. I could feel myself begin to shake, and I could tell from the pounding in my ears that my heart rate was dangerously high.

"No. My mother and father have been happily married for over forty years. They tried for over ten years to conceive when they finally got me. And the twins came almost immediately after. My mother would never cheat on my father. Never." I turned back to Bruce. "Your sample must be contaminated."

"I thought the same thing, Ella. So I requested the historic samples from the study you were involved in and cross-matched them. My analysis was correct. I'm sorry." He spoke so gently, I barely registered the words.

"My brother is a master shapeshifter. I have no doubt that your mother was and is faithful to your father. But the fact remains, Ella Carmichael, that you are his daughter," Thor laid his hand on my arm.

"And you are my uncle?" I clarified.

"Loki was adopted. I am your uncle, but not by blood," he nodded. Well, that was a relief. Of all the things for me to latch on to, it was the weightless relief that dreamy, hot Thor was not actually related to me. I wanted to hit myself in the head with something.

"That still doesn't explain why I can lift your hammer," I realized. Thor nodded.

"No, but it is one small piece of the puzz –"

"Oh, shit! Wait!" I suddenly remembered why I really knew Loki's name. "Loki was the one who brought the aliens. And destroyed New York!" The bleak look on Bruce's face confirmed it and I dropped my head onto his desk. "Just kill me now." My 'father' was a sociopath. Or psychopath. I could never keep the two straight. Either way, he was a mass murderer.

"There is much to discuss with regards to your heritage, Ella. But another time," Thor's hand was warm on my shoulder. It was too much. Too kind. I could feel tears gathering at the corners of my eyes. I blinked them away, wiping the residue with the edge of my t-shirt and stood up.

"I am going to head back to my suite and lie down," I said. "No chance Daddykins is going to pop in on me while I rest?" A master shapeshifter could be anywhere, and who was to say he wouldn't want to kill me if he found out who I was. Thor flinched, just barely, and shook his head.

"Loki lost his life saving mine not long ago." The emotion in his voice brought the tears back to my eyes and I turned away before he or Bruce could see them.

"I'm sorry, Thor," I apologized and hurried from the office, not stopping until I was securely on the elevator. I held back my tears until I was safely inside my suite, and then collapsed on my bed, sobbing.

XXX

"Explain to me how this changes anything, Ella?" Angela was completely unfazed by my announcement over breakfast. "You're still brilliant. You're still kicking ass and taking no prisoners in the lab. You're still a viable and awesome face of the STEM initiative."

"Let's return to the idea of false advertising. Isn't it false advertising to lead anyone to believe they have the same opportunity for success as I do? It could be that I'm smart because of what I am," I protested. Angela's jaw clenched.

"No. You do not get play the pity me card in this situation. And you don't get to downplay the contributions of other women by suggesting they won't be as smart as you. Just because your bio-dad was some sort of Norse deity doesn't make you better or smarter than any other woman who is entering the STEM fields," she snapped. "Perhaps the reality is that you are less deserving because of what you are. Maybe we should start holding you to an even higher standard."

"I didn't mean it that way!" I exclaimed. I didn't, did I? "I don't even know what I meant. But I don't know what I am anymore. And what if I have the same evil lurking in me?" I was lost in my thoughts and didn't see Angela gesturing for me to shut up until it was too late. Thor sat down beside me and took my hand in his.

"Your father was not evil. He was lost. He made extraordinarily bad decisions. But he was not evil," he began. "He was a gifted sorcerer, a brilliant tactician, and whether he realized it or not, he was my best friend. But he once said he grew up in the shadow of my glory, and that prevented others from seeing him for what he was. But he was never evil."

"Not even when he killed how many people?" I shot back, pulling my hand from his. "Hundreds, wasn't it?" Thor sighed and hung his head.

"We were raised warriors, to see death in battle as the most worthy attainment. Those people he killed, he believed they were greeted in Valhalla. It does not excuse his actions, but there is always collateral loss in a war. And he was very much fighting a war. Against us, against me, against Midgard and against his captors." Thor looked so very sad. Like he was not finished grieving.

"His captors?"

"I have enough evidence to believe that Loki was acting under the direction of another, and under duress. But that does not matter now," he shook his head. "What matters is that you are here, my niece." His arm snaked around me and he pulled me close, leaning down to kiss my forehead. I didn't even realize I held romantic notions toward him until I felt them dissipate with that familial kiss. Sure, I'd thought he was beyond handsome, but I hadn't actually been holding on to the notion that I'd ever have interested him. Had I?

"Forgive me if I don't feel comfortable calling you Uncle." Truthfully, I felt a little nauseated. His laugh boomed across the commissary.

"The Aesir don't see bloodlines the same way as Midgardians do, Ella. I would feel as awkward being called uncle as you would should I hail you as niece each time we meet. And, as I have pointed out, Loki was my foster brother, adopted into my family. There is not blood between us, and though I will cherish you as my brother's child, I hope that our bond will be one of friendship," he explained. "You have a saying here on Midgard, and it relates well to my shield companions in the Avengers, and I hope it will someday describe our relationship as well. The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. Happenstance has brought us together as family, Ella Carmichael. But I would that we could become friends."

You could have knocked me over with a feather. Thor wanted to be my friend. Thor, who was somehow not-technically-but-still-somehow-my-uncle wanted to be my friend. I gaped at him and glanced at Angela, who appeared equally dumbfounded.

"I don't know what to say," I blurted. He laughed and squeezed me close again.

"Then say nothing, but bear your mind open. If for no other reason than to solve the riddle behind lifting Mjolnir, for being my friend will put you in closer contact with my hammer," he teased. I had to smile at that.

"You make it sound like I would use you for your hammer," I laughed.

"T'would not be the worst reason I had been used, Ella." His eyes betrayed a deeper hurt, and I realized that no matter what the future held for me, I was going to have to be very careful with my treatment of the thunder god. He had been hurt and betrayed, and probably still saw my ability to wield Mjolnir as an offense. It was probably why he was so thrilled that I was related to him.


	9. Chapter 9

I was standing in front of a gymnasium full of preteen and teenage girls and I felt so incredibly awkward. Every bad high school experience flashed before my eyes. Every instance of being called a nerd, or a geek. Every time I'd been shoved into the lockers. Every time I'd been made fun of for being good at 'boy stuff'. The girls had always been more vicious than the boys had, certain I was doing it to get close to their crushes, when it couldn't have been further from the truth. I was into science, math, and building things because it made me happy.

I glanced at Pepper, and she must have read the terror on my face. She stepped closer and leaned her head towards mine. "You are the cool kid now, Ella. These girls all want to be like you. You are a role model," she reassured me. I smiled and let out a heavy breath. The principal stepped up to the microphone and placed his hand over it to mask what he was about to say to us.

"I would like to apologize in advance, but I suspect since the SHIELD information dump, there may be a lot of questions about the Avengers pointed at you." He tried to force a smile. It wasn't successful. "We've asked the girls to try to keep on topic, but you know how distractible teenagers can be."

"It's perfectly alright for them to ask those questions, sir. Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark are valuable members of the Avengers, and they are also leading minds in their respective fields." I wasn't surprised. They were also dreamy, and superheroes in a world that had only just accepted that superheroes could actually exist. If that was motivation for a girl to focus on STEM fields, all I could hope was that eventually she would stick around because she found something in the actually field to be passionate about, instead of the cute guy.

"But they aren't women," the principal protested. I shrugged.

"So? Women are underrepresented in STEM fields. These young women are going to need to be able to interact with the men they will be working with. So if they have questions, I can direct the answer to something on topic easily."

"Which is why I'm so pleased to have you on this, Ella," Pepper patted my back. The principal gave me a nod and then uncovered the microphone.

"Ladies, we have two very important visitors with us here today. You know who they are because you signed up for this talk, but allow me to introduce them anyhow. Virginia Potts is the CEO of Stark Industries, which is the current leader in clean energy technologies in the world. She has brought Elizabeth Carmichael today. Ms. Carmichael has just won a prestigious internship with Stark Industries. She has a master's degree in Engineering from CalTech, and a Bachelor of Science with honours in Physics with an extended minor in Biochemistry from the University of Washington. Let's give them a warm West Side Tigers welcome," he introduced. The girls cheered. Not just clapped, but cheered. It couldn't help but smile. "Ms. Potts, if you'd like to begin." Pepper stepped over to the microphone and adjusted it.

"As the female CEO of what is arguably one of the most successful companies in America right now, I look around in meetings and see that often, I am the only woman in attendance. I look through our research and development labs and significantly fewer than fifty percent of the scientists working are women. Research has shown than women are steered away from STEM careers as early as their elementary school years. And I'd like to see that change," she began. "We've made changes to our internship program to guarantee a seat to a woman every year, but we don't want to just give that internship to any woman, she still must meet the rigorous qualification process that Stark Industries demands of each of its employees. So in years where we do not have a qualified woman to take the internship, it will remain vacant. That's where you young women come in. To ensure we have a pool of talented and remarkable women to fill that internship and other paid vacancies at Stark Industries, we are launching a women in STEM summer camp and afterschool program across the United States. There will be no charge to attend, in order to ensure that any young woman who has a desire to learn can access the programs. The application process for the programs is set up to expose you to academic applications and interviews long before they will alter the course of your life. In our programs, you will be exposed not only to all aspects of the STEM fields, but to academic and professional counselling. I am so excited to offer this opportunity to girls across America, and I hope you will all apply to attend. Ella is here to talk to you about her field, which is Engineering. She's been working at Stark Industries for just over a month, and we are thrilled to have her with us. She beat out 1700 other applicants, both men and women, to be our first choice for the internship program this summer. Once she is finished telling you a little about what she does, she and I will both be happy to answer questions." Pepper stepped back from the mic and the girls all cheered again. I felt a little bit like a rock star.

"Hi. Like both your principal and Ms. Potts have said, my name is Ella Carmichael, and I'm an intern at Stark Industries. But that's who I am now. Let me tell you about who I was when I was your age. I was the only girl in advanced calculus, which I took in grade 10. I fell in love with physics when I was about 16, and wanted to play with the building blocks of the universe, so I also pursued biology and chemistry. When I was in twelfth grade, I built a water-free hand-washing station for the school nurse instead of going to prom. Now, I'm not suggesting you need to sacrifice your social life in order to succeed. I didn't have access to an awesome initiative like the one Ms. Potts has developed. She didn't mention it, but she has all the top STEM companies and major technology schools on board with sponsoring her program. It started with Ms. Potts and Stark Industries, but this is a program that is going to help you succeed, regardless of where you wind up for post-secondary or who eventually employs you. Employers and college recruiters are going to be looking for this program on your resume," I began. "This is why I'm so excited to be part of promoting it. I wish there had been something this awesome when I was in high school. I wish there'd be a place where I could be among other women and learn, and be encouraged to pursue the sciences. You have that opportunity!" I continued on, elaborating on what I was working on at Stark, and what I saw for the future. Pepper had asked me to keep it under ten minutes, but I think I managed to say everything I wanted to in about five. She stepped back up to the microphone and opened the floor for questions.

"My question is for Ms. Carmichael. I did some reading up on you, and was wondering why you changed your focus from biochem to engineering?" A tall, slim girl asked.

"I really like building things, and I also realized I couldn't do everything. I'd read an article that had been written about the arc reactor that Tony Stark had built, and the opportunities in clean energy that it had opened up, and I saw a niche that was new and developing and exciting. Everything we use, every machine we have ever built to help make our lives easier, they all run on energy of some sort. And most of that energy is non-renewable, 'dirty' in some way," I put air-quotes around the word when I said it. "How exciting to be able to adapt that arc reactor technology to common everyday use, and minimize the damage we are doing to our planet by using a renewable, clean energy source, and making it affordable and easily accessible to the average consumer? I feel like I'm making the world a better place in this field."

"Have you met Tony Stark?" Another girl asked.

"That one must be for you, too, Ella," Pepper laughed, "since I'm dating him."

"I have. He's exactly as overwhelming as you think he would be. But he's also really cool. He's ridiculously brilliant, so he's a great sounding board, and he will often see where you're headed with an idea before you've totally finished having the thought. And yet he still allows you to take credit for it. Kind of awesome in a boss," I nodded.

"What are you building right now?"

"I'm working on a washing machine that uses the arc reactor technology to power it, and incorporates water reclamation technology to minimize waste water," I explained. "It sounds really boring, but just wait until you've lived in a college dorm and the machines keep destroying your interview clothes."

"Have you met any of the other Avengers?"

"I have had the opportunity to work with Dr. Banner on a project recently. The other members of the Avengers are in and out of the tower fairly regularly, but I work in research and development and don't get up to their floors as a rule. This internship is really cool because Mr. Stark has ensured that I have had an opportunity to meet some of the top minds in science right now. My direct supervisor is Dr. Markus Reid. Some of you will recognize his name from his contributions to the last space mission." I redirected the question, just as I'd promised the principal.

The girls had a million other questions, it seemed, and the hour we'd been scheduled for flew by as Pepper and I fielded their inquiries. When we wrapped up, a few girls approached the stage as Pepper and I were packing up. One girl in particular cleared her throat to get our attention.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Ms. Carmichael, but I had a question that I didn't think was appropriate for the Q and A," she began.

"Well, it might not be appropriate now either," I warned her, wondering what she could possibly want to know about.

"My dad works for Stark, and he said he saw you lift Thor's hammer the first day you were there." It was a question, even if she seemed to be just stating fact.

"He did, did he?" I laughed. "Scientists and engineers, I'm sure your dad has told you, like to know how things work. And when you see a huge hammer that seems like it wouldn't really be good for building anything just laying around, well, maybe you want to know what the heck it is."

"So did you lift it? Because the SHIELD database says it can only be lifted by Thor," she asked.

"That database was uploaded to the public over eight months ago," I hedged. "It might be wrong."

"You aren't actually going to tell me, are you?" She sighed. I laughed.

"I hate to speak in riddles, but a good scientist observes the world around her. And makes deductions from what she sees and hears. Think about what I've already told you. I've probably already given you the answer," I teased. "I'd like know it's you when we see your application. What is your name?"

"Caroline Hunt," she replied. "Thank you for the talk today. Dad really wanted me to attend and I wasn't sure. But I think I will apply for the after-school program."

XXX

After the revelation about my parentage, I'd thrown myself into my work, and the STEM project, rather than make any attempt at being social. I thought I'd been really subtle about it, and was only going to be perceived as dedicated to my work. I was still spending time with Angela, as we'd really clicked well during my orientation weeks, but otherwise, I was avoiding any situations that would put me in line for interaction with anyone that lived above the 75th floor. I just didn't want to deal with the aftermath of the revelation that my father was the nemesis of everyone involved with the Avengers. Despite my efforts to appear merely busy, my behaviour had been noticed.

"Tony tells me you've missed two scheduled meetings with him," Pepper started. We'd settled into the car on the way back from the school talk. I tensed up.

"I didn't miss two. I asked for one to be rescheduled twice," I protested.

"Let's not split hairs, Ella. Tony says you are avoiding him. Is there something wrong with your project? Are you behind? If you're behind because you are working with me on this girl's program, you need to tell me," she pressed.

"Everything with my project is exactly in line with the revised schedule I submitted after agreeing to be part of your program, Pepper," I admitted.

"So why are you needing to reschedule meetings with Tony?" Her forehead furrowed in confusion.

"I don't want to get behind," I lied. It sounded weak, even to me.

"Ella. What is going on? I know Tony can be difficult. If you're having issues with him –"

"Oh my god, Pepper, no!" I interrupted. I'm not sure what kind of problems she was alluding to, and didn't really want to know how many times she'd had that kind of conversation with an employee. Tony was notorious for his short attention span, and ability to cut down talent with his biting sarcasm, but it wasn't an issue I had. I'd been fighting my way through this field since I was in high school. There really wasn't anything Tony could say or do that could possibly faze me.

"Then what is going on?" She demanded. I looked out the window of the car, not wanting to engage. I should have realized that Pepper would be a master at waiting out long sulks. She said nothing and just waited for me to respond. It was obvious her mind was also never at rest because as the minutes dragged on, she suddenly gasped. "Is this about your DNA results? This is about Loki, isn't it?"

I turned back to face her, my mask of cool indifference crumbling. I felt the tears biting at the corners of my eyes again and drew in a deep breath to try to control myself. "Do you blame me? I came to Stark Industries looking to change the world. What I got rocked my universe to the core. I don't want to talk to people my genetic donor desperately tried to destroy. I don't want to see the judgement in their eyes when they look at me, wondering if I'll snap and be just as evil and insane as he is."

"I'm sure no one thinks that of you, Ella." Pepper placed a hand on my arm to reassure me. It was hot on my cool skin, and yet, somehow it was comforting.

"The only person who hasn't changed has been you, Pepper. Thor is obsequious; he's so desperate to right whatever wrongs happened between him and Loki. Tony tries to act indifferent, but there's a cautious edge to everything he says to me. And Bruce? I haven't seen him since we spoke about the results of my DNA testing, but I could see the," I paused, looking for the word, "loathing? Fear? Whatever it was, I could see it in his eyes. I'm a liability. I'm surprised you haven't bowed to the pressure and terminated my internship." There was something about the gentle way that Pepper handled everything that made me blurt everything out. Highly inappropriate professional behaviour around your boss, I would guess, but I couldn't help myself.

"If those things were really true, I would have terminated your employment the day we got the results. But Tony and I have had a number of long conversations about your situation. You are right, in some ways. He is cautious about you, but not because he's worried about some hidden potential for mischief. He's concerned about your safety. Loki had allies, and enemies, both of which could see you as a target, should they discover who you really are. We both feel that the best place for you is here, where we can ensure your safety," she explained. "As for Thor, well, you might be right. But I think he is also lonely for his own kind, and you are more like him than anyone else on earth. He sees you as family, and is trying to make up for lost years. Bruce, on the other hand, is on a scheduled retreat, and totally is not avoiding you for any reason other than that he's relaxing in the wilds of northern British Columbia."

I felt a bit like an idiot. I said as much. Pepper laughed. "I'm sorry. I still haven't spoken to my mother about this. I'm feeling very out of sorts. It's been affecting my work and I swear it won't continue to be an issue," I admitted.

"Ella, you have nothing to apologize for. It's not affecting your work. If every employee at Stark threw themselves into their projects like you have when they had personal issues arise, we'd increase our productivity 1000%. But you're more than a commodity, and I have been worried about you. Join Tony and me for dinner tonight. We need to address some of these concerns." Even though her tone was inviting, I understood that declining the request was not an option.


	10. Chapter 10

I'm pretty sure I understood the terror and resignation that Marie Antoinette must have felt, deep in her gut, as she was led to the guillotine. I was nauseated with worry about dinner with Pepper and Tony. As the elevator shot past each floor between mine and my destination, I could feel my heart rate increasing, and the concurrent bile rising in my throat. Despite Pepper's reassurances that Tony didn't hate me because of what we had learned about me, I still jumped when the elevator dinged and opened on the lounge floor of the Avenger's portion of the tower. I hesitated for a moment before stepping off the car into the suite.

"You're late. Get over here and let me give you a drink," he called from the bar, waving a tumbler at me. I started toward him, and as I crossed the room, I saw Thor sitting on the couch, and noticed Bruce outside, overlooking the city. Shit. It was going to be a goddamned intervention. I stopped just short of reaching the bar and glared at Tony. He smirked, and stepped out from behind the bar. He brought me the drink and pulled me into his arms. "Relax, enjoy yourself, and stop worrying." He gave me a quick squeeze and released me.

With Bruce outside and Thor on the couch, there was literally nowhere for me to escape without hiding out in the bathroom. And knowing my luck, someone else was probably lying in wait for me there. I opted to escape outside. The deck was big enough that I could easily avoid Bruce, and it wouldn't be as obvious as if I chose to sit across from Thor but not say a word.

I slipped outside wordlessly and crossed behind Bruce to climb the stairs to the higher observation deck. I leaned against the safety rail and looked across the city. I'd been in New York for over a month and still hadn't really gone to do anything touristy. Angela kept trying to encourage me to forget about life for a day and go to Coney Island, or the Statue of Liberty, and I hadn't taken her up on it yet. I needed to, I decided as I sipped my drink. The moon was full, and seemed almost close enough to touch, it was so large and bright in the sky. I sighed. If I could just make it through dinner, I could go back to hiding in the lab.

"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." Bruce had followed me up to the deck. I snorted out a puff of air and turned, my eyebrow raised.

"That's the moon, Bruce," I pointed out.

"I thought you might appreciate a little Shakespeare. Considering," he offered, and shrugged. I couldn't help but laugh.

"But Romeo and Juliet?"

"There's a limit to my knowledge of Shakespeare," he smiled. "I mostly know bits of Macbeth and I wasn't sure that would be appropriate."

"How do you gauge appropriate, exactly? You just quoted Romeo as though I was your Juliet, on a moonlit observation deck. You don't think that might be pushing an invisible line? I mean, it's not daggers and bloody hands, but it certainly carries an air of illicit romance to it," I challenged him.

"I've been to college. Chicks dig Shakespeare. Don't make me pull out the sonnets," he teased, and leaned against the safety rail, facing me. I turned to face him, the false courage of my vodka making me want to throw down the gauntlet.

"I'm not some starry-eyed freshman who will fall prey to your upperclassman shenanigans and survey of poetry knowledge, Bruce." I closed the gap between us, and put a hand on his chest. He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing visibly in the dim light.

"Like a dull actor now, I have forgot my part, and I am out, Even to a full disgrace." He stepped back. I burst out laughing.

"Coriolanus? You're running away from me using Coriolanus?" I grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him back to me. "Caius Martius said that after his wife greeted him again, with a kiss." I wasn't sure what to do next. I didn't think we really knew each other well enough for me to plant a kiss on him, but I kind of felt like it would be appropriate. I hesitated.

"Ella, this is a bad idea," he swallowed again, and licked his lips. I nodded mutely, unable to look away from him mouth. I could feel the sweat of my palm wicking into the handful of his shirt that I was holding, and the pounding of his heart against my hand caused my breath to hitch.

"Very bad," I agreed and met his gaze. He slid his hand across my waist, pulling me against him. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in. When I opened them, his mouth was on mine. I let go of the front of his shirt and slipped my arm around his neck. The kiss was nothing like I'd ever imagined when I was young and smitten with the famous Dr. Banner. It was rougher than I expected, hotter. Like he was teetering on the edge of control. I pulled away, realizing that was exactly the case. I did not want to be responsible for unleashing the Hulk on the city just because we were kissing. "I'm sorry, Bruce, I wasn't thinking." He stepped back and nodded, his eyes flashing bright green.

"No, I should apologize. I have better control now, but I still," he paused, looking for the right words, "I can't get excited. As soon as my heart rate speeds up –"

"I understand," I chewed on my lip. We were still standing too close together, and his hand was still draped along my hip. I drew in a deep calming breath and held it for a second. Bruce must have been using similar technique because his eyes flickered back to grey as I breathed out. He leaned in again and brushed his lips against mine. It was different than the first time, soft, gentle. Calm.

A cough from the stairs leading to the main deck broke us apart. I could feel the flush creeping up my neck as Tony smirked. Bruce dropped his head into his hand and rubbed his temples. I got the feeling he would be getting more of the ribbing than I would.

"When I said relax, Ella, that's not really what I had in mind. You crazy kids interested in dinner?"

XXX

"I really don't like the idea of being your latest science fair project, Tony," I protested. He just laughed. He'd just suggested letting some doctor he knew run a bunch of tests on me to determine exactly how much Loki I had in me.

"I think you will be more comfortable with yourself if you know the extent of your difference from the average human," Tony argued. I shook my head.

"It's enough that I know I'm different. I don't want to know more!" I looked at Pepper, willing her to say something on my behalf. She sighed.

"Ella, would it help if we told you that Lex has assessed Loki?" She asked. I sat back. It meant the doctor had a passing knowledge of alien physiology. I did feel slightly less like an experiment knowing that.

"Well, yes. That would make a difference. I'm not sure I want to do it, but it definitely puts a different spin on the idea," I nodded. I served myself another helping of salad. It had strawberries in it. I'd never had a salad with strawberries in it before. I felt very fancy with my strawberry and mysterious leafy greens salad. I reached over to grab the salad dressing

"I rather think Lex would prefer if we did not share all her secrets, but you should also know that she is very closely tied to Loki as well," Thor began. I snapped my head around to look at him, salad dressing slopping onto my hand.

"Your brother gets around," I arched an eyebrow.

"He is not her father. When he was here before, she assessed him while he was detained. He," Thor paused and sighed, "he took a liking to her. He always had a weakness for healers. He marked her, and in the marking, transferred some of his genetics to her."

"What?" I couldn't quite grasp what he was saying. "I don't follow."

"He grabbed her, and gave her a frostbite. It corrupted her genetic sequence, effectively making her half Jotun. No useful powers though, aside from making ice coffees," Tony volunteered. My head spun.

"Corrupted her with his DNA? Wouldn't that make her like me?" I was so confused.

"That's kind of what we wanted to know, which was why I'd like to bring her in to assess you." Tony refilled my wine glass.

"Wait," I turned back to Thor, "You said he had a weakness for healers? My parents both work in health care. Could that be important?"

"That is not something I would wish to presume. But Alexandra is a good doctor, and thorough. It would please me greatly, my niece, for you to agree to see her. I would that we both knew more about you. For my sake, it would help me to seek out answers for your more difficult questions. And it would be beneficial for you to know of the positive aspects of your heritage. I can only guess, but you should age more slowly, and have improved health in comparison to a normal human. A longer life, too, I would imagine." Thor's words were gentle and thoughtful. I sighed.

"Fine," I blew out a deep breath. "I'll see the doctor so we can compare the taint in our genes." The gentle relaxed slope of Thor's shoulders suddenly squared up and his jaw ticked.

"What Loki has wrought cannot be undone. Long ago, he sought another through deception, and he learned a painful lesson from that encounter. I would not think that he would have deceived another after all that occurred. When it is time, and you are ready to discuss this with your mother, my brother may not be a monster in her story," Thor chastised me. My jaw dropped at the implication that my mother might have willingly been involved with Loki.

"You've readily admitted that you are blind where your brother is involved, Thor," Tony commented. "Which means he could be exactly the monster Ella is thinking he is."

"This is all moot. Loki is dead. What is important is that Ella has the supports she needs in order to be able to move forward from here," Pepper's words were decisive. I smiled my thanks at her, and finished my wine.

"So shall we talk about the other elephant in the room? Bruce? Ella?" Tony smirked. Thor looked lost and looked at Bruce, who was staring at his plate, pushing a stray piece of strawberry around with his fork. He then looked at me. I looked away, pressing my lips into a flat line. Thor paused and suddenly roared up from the table, bringing his hand down on it with a loud crash.

"That is my niece, Banner!" His voice boomed through the room. Bruce sprang from his chair, taking a defensive pose. As though he thought Thor would come across or through the table.

"What exactly is your concern?" Bruce countered.

"The same concern any man would have for a women under his protection," Thor stammered, realizing that Bruce thought he was disapproving because of the Hulk. "That your intentions are honourable, that she will come to no harm from you."

"Whoa! Excuse me, I am perfectly capable of fighting my own battles, thank you!" I exclaimed. "I don't need protection!" Thor looked at Bruce, still in a battle-ready pose, and to me, with my arms crossed in front of me and my no bullshit face on and his shoulders slumped. He sat back down and dropped his head into his hands.

"My apologies to you both. I did not mean to suggest you were unworthy of her, Banner," Thor apologized. "And I do not think you need protecting, Ella, your mind is too quick to fall prey to the traps of men. And Banner is a good man."

I pushed away from the table. "Thank you," I glanced at Pepper. "If it's all the same to you, I'm excusing myself. I'm exhausted, and I think I will turn in early." Pepper nodded as I placed my napkin on the table beside my plate.

I leaned against the elevator wall and let out a big sigh, closing my eyes against the brightly lit interior of the car. I barely registered the bell letting me know I'd arrived at my floor, but made my way into my suite, my thoughts keeping me busy elsewhere. I didn't realize my deck doors were open until the tall, slim figure stepped through them, silhouetted by the light from the moon.

"Hello, Darling," he said. My blood ran cold. "Have you got a kiss for Daddy?"


	11. Chapter 11

I jumped back, smashing into the kitchen counter and screeched, but before I could regain my composure and run, he was on me, pinning me to the wall. I thrashed, but he was just too strong. Of course he was. He was a frost giant. And I was only half frost giant, so there was just no way for me to measure up.

He clamped his hand over my mouth and leaned close. His green eyes flashed over me, taking in everything about me in a fraction of a second. I felt almost like he could see inside me too, and was taking an accounting of everything that made me who I was. I struggled against the firm grip he had on my arms. For a slender guy, there was a helluva weight against me as he leaned across me to prevent my escape.

"Come now, Darling," he purred. "Is that any way to greet your long-lost father?"

I struggled to protest against his hand and he just shook his head. "If you think I'm going to give you the opportunity to scream for assistance, you're not smart enough to be a daughter of mine," he chided. "But you do have the look of your mother to you. Is she still so beautiful?"

My skin crawled and I renewed my effort to break free. I kneed him in the groin and dashed past him. He shot up and blocked the door out of my suite, so I reeled around and headed toward the deck. Let him think what he wanted, I was getting outside one way or another. I should have spent some time over the past few weeks reading up on Loki, or questioning Thor about his powers. Even though I could clearly see him stalking towards me through my living room, two copies of him flashed into being near the edge of the balcony. He must have thought I was planning on flinging myself off the building.

"I merely want to speak, daughter. I would know my child. So many of my children have been ripped from me by Odin," he spat. "I wish to learn everything about you before he steals you away from me as well." The copies were closing in on me, backing me into a corner of the deck so I wouldn't be able to get near the ledge. He honestly thought I would rather die than interact with him. I felt a flash of sympathy. How many children had been torn away from him that he would assume I would prefer death to speaking with him?

"Stay back, Loki," I warned, holding my hands out in front of me. The edge of his mouth raised in a half-smile.

"You've got spirit. I like that. I only had a brief report of your abilities, of course," he tilted his head as he closed in on me, moving the two illusion versions of him aside to look me over again. "I have heard your talents run to magic. Is that so, daughter?"

"Whoever gave you that report didn't tell you my name?" I shot back. I didn't understand the question. I was no sorcerer.

"No, knowing the Allfather's tendencies towards my children, he felt it best to not reveal too much about you in Asgard's halls," Loki admitted. "I would know your name, child. Give it to me."

"My name is Elizabeth Marie Carmichael."

"Elizabeth Marie Lokisdottir, you mean," he corrected me.

"No. I mean Carmichael. You didn't raise me. You didn't kiss my skinned knees better, or give me Tylenol when I had a fever. You didn't come to soccer games, you didn't lift me up when I was sad, and you didn't hold me when my heart was breaking. You may have donated some genetics to me, but you are not my father," I set my jaw. His eyes flashed and he was up against me instantly.

"Because I was not given the chance. I have had every one of my children torn away from me. I will not have you taken from me too, while you are still in your infancy," he snapped.

"I am twenty-nine years old. I am hardly a child," I pushed against him, but it was no use. He was solid.

"You are but a babe, Elizabeth. Half-Jotun. You will live for thousands of years yet. Long after your human father is dust, I will be there. Who better to raise you, help you understand what you are, than your own father?" His words were crisp and painful.

"You are not my father!" I pushed against him with all my force, and a spark bounced between us, pushing him away. The air around us crackled with energy, and a mask of surprise changed his features from hard and sharp to soft and vulnerable. His eyebrows knit together in confusion, and he looked impossibly young. I felt a weight in my hand that hadn't been there before and Loki's eyes widened in disbelief. I looked to my left and realized I'd managed to summon Mjolnir from at least ten floors above me. Which meant that Thor was not far behind.

I glanced back into my apartment, and sure enough, Thor was rushing through the door, which he had knocked off its hinges. He rushed toward the deck and then stopped to take in the scene in front of him. He wasn't looking at me, but rather, his gaze was locked on Loki, and he didn't even blink as he continued through my living room to the doors outside. The two illusion versions of Loki faded away, and Loki took a further few steps back from me.

"Loki?" Thor's voice cracked. "But I watched you die. I held you in my arms as the life left you."

"You never could tell reality from illusion, brother." Loki took another step back, as Thor stepped toward him. Before he could make another move, Thor pulled him into his arms, crushing him against his chest. Loki looked lost and confused.

"I care not what sorcery kept you alive, Loki," Thor held him at arm's length and stared, tears overflowing his lashes. The damned man was even beautiful when he was crying. "But you are alive."

"Is she your daughter, or mine?" Loki got right back to what he felt was important, disregarding Thor's emotions. Thor looked confused for a moment, and then his laugh boomed out into the night.

"She is yours. And she is worthy of Mjolnir." Thor looked immeasurably proud of me.

"You failed to mention that when you were in Asgard," Loki accused.

"Considering Father's long history regarding your children, I felt it wisest to not feed him reasons to destroy her," Thor explained with a shrug. "How did you learn of Ella? I was careful to speak to Father in the utmost confidence."

"I have my ways, Thor. I always have," Loki refused to answer. "Do you really think he would destroy her? She is no monster or beast."

"That did not protect Nari, did it?" Thor's response was enigmatic. I was really going to need to read up on Norse mythology.

"He has never harmed Leif," Loki countered.

"He feels personally responsible for Leif. Even all these years later, he bears the burden of guilt for what happened with Eira." Thor's words were gentle, and I felt as though I was listening in on something very private. "This is not about your other children, Loki. This is about Ella. And I sought to protect her from Father. I will also protect her from you, should I need to."

"Your father will not be an issue," Loki spat. "But I will not be kept from my daughter. So you might want to organize a custodial agreement with her for use of the hammer, brother." He drew himself up to his full height, his eyes narrowed. Thor was so overwhelmingly big that on first seeing Loki, I'd thought he was small. He certainly was less bulky than Thor, but he was very nearly the same height, and I suspected that despite his more lithe appearance he was also very nearly the same strength. As they eyed one another, staring down their noses in matched contempt, I could see the regal bearing that betrayed their birthright as princes, and I shuddered with the realization that if Loki was truly my father, and the DNA test said that he was, I was a princess. Or half a princess. I wasn't really sure how that worked.

"I have no wish to fight you, Loki," Thor sighed. "But as she is your daughter, so too is she my niece. And I will honour her wishes before I honour yours." Loki looked at me and the painful longing in his eyes was almost too much for me to bear. I blinked and looked away, feeling my own eyes fill with tears.

"We shall start slowly then, daughter. I will be back," he promised, placing a hand gently on my shoulder. I wanted to shrug it off, but I couldn't. I met his gaze and nodded wordlessly. He stalked away from us, around the edge of the balcony and disappeared. I looked up to the sky, wondering where the lights from the Bifrost were, and then ran around the corner, thinking he must just be hiding. He was gone.

"How did he do that?" I asked Thor. He shook his head.

"Loki knows many paths between realms that even Heimdall is unaware of. I would expect he knows of a rift he can control for travel," he explained. I realized I was still holding Mjolnir and thrust it out for him to take.

"Sorry. Again." I cringed. Thor took the hammer and put his arm around my shoulder.

"I will not lie, Ella," he began. "It vexes me that you have such power over Mjolnir, but I have no control over who is or is not worthy to wield her. If I must share her, for now I will be content that it is with my own kin."

"But, I'm not." I couldn't understand why he was ignoring that he and Loki were not blood relations.

"You are. Loki is my brother. And you are his child," he explained. "It is that simple."

"Nothing is ever that simple, Thor," I argued.

XXX

I could feel the tension starting at the base of my skull as the plane began its descent into SeaTac airport. After meeting Loki, I'd decided it was time to talk to my mother about what exactly had conspired between them to lead to my conception. I needed to know if she had been tricked or if she had willingly gone to his bed, nearly ten years after marrying my father.

She met me at the baggage claim and threw her arms around me.

"Look at your face. Who would have thought my genius would become a model?" Mom teased as she kissed my cheek. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I am so glamorous," I flipped my hair and slid a finger under my top to catch my bra strap back up on my shoulder. "Dad said you were on-call. I was expecting him."

"I traded with Don Connolly. He owes me a few. You sounded so serious on the phone I wanted to intercept you for ice cream before we got home," she admitted.

"Is Doc Connolly still skipping out on-call shifts for Seahawks games?" I laughed. Ever since Mom had taken the position as one of the ER attending physicians, she'd been covering for Dr. Connolly's football addiction. Mom's laugh was like music, and I saw myself looking at her with fresh eyes. Her hair had long ago gone silver, and she still wore it long, pulled back in a sloppy braid. Her blue eyes were sharp, revealing the strong intellect behind them. She had been stunning as a young doctor, and in a lot of ways her beauty had held her back for years, as the male doctors she worked alongside didn't take her seriously. After all, they argued, beautiful women couldn't possibly have brains. She'd proved them wrong, never once faltering in her goal to be the best surgeon on the West Coast. She'd taken the ER attending position when the twins were in their last couple of years of high school, saying that the ER was more relaxing that an operating suite when you had two wild teenaged daughters. In short, Mom was a trailblazer.

"He more than makes up for it in the off-season. Dad and I got to spend a week working on the house this spring without a single interruption." When Dad had retired from his position as the Director of Nursing, they'd bought an old Craftsman style house and were restoring it. I think Dad sometimes felt he had something to prove, after a forty-year career as a nurse. I didn't think he did. My dad was one of the manliest men I'd ever met until the Avengers had happened into my life. It was hard to compete with Norse gods and superheroes, but I think Dad still stood out among them.

Mom maneuvered the car through the parking lot and pointed us in the direction of nearest Ben & Jerry's. Ever since I'd been little, Mom had had a sixth sense about things bothering me, and would needle me into speaking over ice cream. It wasn't any different now that I was older. Ice cream was the balm that could soothe all ills.

"So," she said, "what's bothering you?"

"What do you mean?" I was evasive.

"Elizabeth Marie. You did not come home after a month in New York City just to visit. Something is bothering you. Out with it," she demanded. Like I said, sixth sense. I sighed and took a few bites of ice cream, letting the cream melt over my tongue. I hadn't had ice cream in months.

"It's about your fertility issues," I started. Mom paused and I caught a barely perceptible flinch. "Is it something I need to worry about?"

"I don't think so. Like I've said before, I was an early user of the birth control pills. The hormone doses in those early years were outrageous. Unsafe, really. I was basically sterilized," she was too quick to answer, but it was the same story she'd told me my entire life.

"So what changed? I mean, if you were sterilized by high hormone dosing, how was that reversed? You had me, then the twins came so soon after." I knew I was leading her into a trap, but I didn't know how else to get to where I needed to go with the conversation. It's not easy to just blurt out a question like 'did you willingly sleep with a Norse god?' I hadn't pursued this particular topic with her in years. Not since I'd taken biology, so I had a better understanding of the gaps in her story now than I had as a younger woman.

"I don't really know. It was almost like magic, and I was pregnant with you." I could tell she was lying. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut.

"Magic? Mom, come on. Magic and science are one and the same. You taught me that," I protested, fighting the flush of anger I could feel starting at my throat.

"Ella, you are an engineer, not a doctor. There are some things about medicine you are just not going to understand," she hedged. I closed my eyes and looked away. It was overcast, which was unsurprising for Seattle. I pushed my ice cream away.

"Is Dad my father?" I blurted out. Mom flinched, like I'd slapped her. "I mean, was it Dad who was sterile? Did you need a sperm donor?" I was backpedalling, trying to make it sound less like I was accusing her of unfaithfulness. She collected my ice cream cup and stacked it on her own.

"This is not something for discussing in public, Ella." She dropped the discarded ice cream in the garbage and headed to the car. I scrambled to catch up. Once we were back on the interstate, she started speaking again. "I was desperate for children. Women's lib had brought us a long way, but women were very much still valued by how many kids they had in the 80s. But no matter what kind of effort your father and I put into it, I just wasn't conceiving." She offered.

"Uh, ew," I responded. Didn't really want to think about effort and conception where my parents were involved.

"Don't be such a prude, Ella, it's merely biology," she snapped. "Your Dad and I had terrible fights about it. It was no easier to be a male nurse than it was to be a female doctor, and there were often comments made. That I was your father's beard, or that our marriage was a sham, so that he would look straight and I would look appropriate. It was fine for a married woman to be a doctor, but apparently not a single one. Your Dad met him first. He claimed to be an orderly, but he was far too clever to merely be a patient porter. He said he knew a way to heal me."

"Oh god, no." I felt sick.

"At first we were both horrified. But the more we thought on it, the more it seemed reasonable. He said he could heal my infertility. He promised that I would bear children by your father. It was magic, pure and simple. He laid a hand on my womb and I felt something entering me. Not corporeal, of course, so I assumed I just wanted this snake-oil salesman to telling me the truth. I figured I'd imagined it. When he took his hand off my belly, he said he'd fixed the imbalance within me. Said it was a trick he'd learned from someone long ago. He looked so young, I couldn't imagine how he and long ago intercepted," she continued. Even though I knew how the story was going to end, given my DNA results, it somehow seemed so much worse hearing it from Mom. "It was a bargain with the devil really. Sometimes I don't wonder if that's who he was. I didn't know how to thank him, and said as much. He asked me for one night. Dad and I both protested, and were terrified he would undo whatever he had done. But he promised he wouldn't. He just said I reminded him of someone and he would feel her love again. We went back and forth about it, Dad and I, but he was a kind, selfless young man. He was handsome; he had a silver-tongue. Finally I capitulated. I vowed to your father it would only ever be the once, and I had my night with the young man."

"Oh, Mom," I groaned in disappointment.

"I don't regret it," she shook her head. "I don't regret it, and neither does your father, Ella. I knew immediately that I was pregnant. Whoever he was, whatever he was, he'd worked a miracle, and I will never regret the result. He gave us you. And his magic allowed us to conceive the twins. I always assumed he would come looking for you, but as you grew up, and he never came, I just figured he'd vanished forever. But he must have returned, for you to be asking questions."

"Sort of." It was my turn to hedge answers.

"Ella, I just told you the greatest secret of my life," she prompted. I sighed.

"Do you remember when the aliens came to New York? And how Iron Man helped save the city?" I asked. Mom nodded. "There was a group of other heroes who helped save the city. One of them was Thor. Like, actual Norse mythology Thor. Complete with the hammer, just like the myths you used to read when I was a little girl."

"Alright," she turned into the driveway, and put the car in park, but left it running.

"No one except Thor is supposed to be able to pick that hammer up. But my first night there, I lifted it," I continued. I went into minute detail as I explained the story to her, even detailing the embarrassing incident with the towel. "When the DNA result came back, it said Loki was my father."

"Loki? The trickster?" Mom paused. "No, it makes sense."

"Thor says he's a master shapeshifter, so I needed to know if you'd been with him willingly," I explained. "I could never accept it if he had tricked you." Mum covered my hand with hers.

"I know you find the thought of your old mom and sex disgusting, but I was quite willing," she reassured me. She was right. I totally wanted to barf.


	12. Chapter 12

Dad was putting dinner on the table when Mom and I walked in. The house was filled with the amazing aroma of roast chicken. It was my dad's signature dish, and it was pure, unadulterated comfort food in our house. He made this thick, creamy gravy to go with it, and home fries. It was the unhealthiest healthy meal we ate in the house growing up, and it was tied with Mom's homemade mac and cheese for my favourite dish. They had obviously figured out something was bugging me long before I boarded that plane at LaGuardia.

Once we were seated, Mom gave Dad a meaningful look. "She knows." They must have even suspected why I was coming home, which didn't make a lot of sense, but then again, neither did much of what Mom had told me while we ate our ice cream.

"I'm sure you have questions, Ellie-bean." Dad's cheesy nickname for me only came out on special occasions these days. I guess this counted. "Happy your Dad isn't really, surprise!" day to me.

"I might eventually. I'm still reeling from the story Mom told me," I admitted.

"We were desperate for children. I hope you'll never understand how we felt. When he came to us, we pounced on the possibility of children, even though we both suspected chicanery. I couldn't see the harm in letting him work his magic spell on your mother because I doubted it would work." Dad had always been the more pragmatic of the two of them.

"But then he wanted to seduce Mom," I protested.

"He was quite compelling. I don't know that I would be fooled by his honeyed words a second time. But we wound up with you, Ella. And that was worth the small amount of damage it may have done to our relationship." Dad was completely in earnest. I looked at him, and then back at Mom.

"You're both really okay with that?" I was absolutely gobsmacked.

"I mentioned the desperation. Althea, I did mention the desperation? It was the 80s; your mother had been overlooked for yet another promotion because she was a woman who was viewed as putting her career ahead of everything else. I was on the verge of losing my job because of the AIDS epidemic. Men just weren't nurses unless they were gay, and it was assumed that I was gay, and that your mother and I had married for convenience. There were no laws to protect me, and it wasn't the truth, but I was going to be fired because the hospital was worried I would contract AIDS and then pass it along to every patient I touched. We needed you more than we cared to admit," Dad took my hand in his. "I know you must think your mother and I completely amoral, but desperation makes you look at things differently."

"Would you do things differently?" I asked. "If you had to do it again?"

"No. The circumstances would have been the same. Our desperation would have been just as real. I've never regretted the outcome of our interactions with him. He gave us you. And what a gift you've been. What parent could be luckier?"

"Don't let the twins hear you!" I laughed. Dad kissed my forehead.

"You're no less mine, Elizabeth," he reassured me. And I guess that's what I needed to hear because my heart lifted.

XXX

I barely slept on the red-eye back to New York. Instead, I found myself thumbing through the book or Norse mythology that my mother had read to me as a child. I'd slipped it into my carry-on before leaving, planning on doing a little research on Loki. Myths weren't histories, obviously, but history was written by the winners. And I had to assume that was at least partly true for myths too. Because I couldn't sleep, made notes in the margins of the book every time Loki's name came up. By the time the plane was touching down, I'd made a pretty solid start on assessing the characteristics of the god worshipped by the Vikings. It was just going to be a matter of comparing that information to what I knew to be true about this Loki, who had invaded earth.

Loki was a master of magic, a shapeshifter of note, capable of seamless disguises. He was a cunning manipulator of emotions. There was some suggestion that he was a talented healer, but it was always downplayed by saying there were better healers among the gods, principally Eir, the goddess of healing. It was actually kind of weird. Every time his talent for healing came up, the author of the book felt it important to point out that Eir was better than he was at it. He was skilled in small weapons like daggers and knives, and that, coupled with his mastery of illusion, made him a formidable enemy on the field of battle. I thought it interesting to note that although there were definitely better fighters amongst the Norse pantheon, the author of the book didn't feel the need to point out who they were every time he discussed Loki's fighting talent.

I was exhausted when we landed, which may have explained my giddy desire to cross-reference what I'd pulled from my book from the SHIELD files that had been leaked online. I had to put in a few hours in the lab, but I was far enough ahead that I could easily take the afternoon for a short nap and additional research. Angela met me at the baggage carousel, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Didn't you think you might want to tell someone you were fucking off to Seattle for the weekend?" She scolded me. She was angry, but her words were light and easy. I stepped back in surprise.

"I wasn't aware that I had to check in all the time." My tone might have been a little pissy. Angela sucked in her breath and bit her lip.

"I didn't mean it that way," she sighed. "I could have made your flight easier. And cheaper."

"I appreciate the concern, Ang. I'm sorry. I'm tired and snappy. But it's not a big deal. I have a lot of frequent flyer miles," I laughed, trying to make up for my snark.

"Stark Industries employees get a corporate rate at a different airline. You practically would have flown for free." She chastised me, but her tone was even more light and careful than before. I forced a laugh as she steered me toward a black car outside.

"I'll have to remember that for next time," I said. "How did you know –"

"You aren't hard to track," she interrupted. "And Tony was concerned about you so he had me do it. How are your parents?"

"Still my parents, despite the psychotic Norse god's attempted to make me feel otherwise," I shrugged. "It was good to visit. I got the full story."

"Was it sordid?" Angela winked. I laughed genuinely then and climbed in the backseat.

"No? Maybe," I thought. "Yeah, a little. I'm beat. Do you mind if I close my eyes while we're driving?"

"Go ahead. Dr. Richmond is here and wants to see you this afternoon. You might want to consider knocking off this morning and taking a nap. She's got a thing about making people run on treadmills," Angela warned me. I closed my eyes and dropped to sleep.

When we arrived back at the tower, I texted Markus and let him know I was going to put in some hours in the evening and headed straight to my bed. There was a huge amount of benefit to working at a company like Stark. Because Tony kept bizarre hours, we were allowed and encouraged to work the hours that would make us most productive. While Markus was a pretty solid nine-to-five kind of guy, there were others on our team that you only saw if you were in the lab after dark, and Markus didn't worry about it, as long as their production was on schedule.

My sleep was restless, and I had crazy dreams. Dreams about my parents, about Loki, about my washing machine. Crazy dreams. I woke when my phone rang. It was after noon, and my stomach immediately voiced its displeasure.

"Yuh?" I grunted and rubbed my eyes.

"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!" Angela's bright singsong made me want to break something. I grunted something rude in response and she started laughed. "You should have slept on the plane, princess. Dr. Richmond is waiting in the med lab for you. I am waiting outside your door with a piping hot cup of coffee."

"I'll be out in a second," I groaned and pushed myself to the edge of the bed. I rolled onto the floor and pushed up to my feet, dropping my phone in the process. I staggered over to the door, and pulled it open. Not only was Angela standing there, Bruce was too. Make that two Avengers who had seen me either almost or completely nude. I flipped the strap of my tank top up onto my shoulder, and pulled my boxers down a little, trying, and failing, to cover myself more. I glared at Angela.

"Seriously?"

"He followed me." She raised an eyebrow. I snatched the coffee from her and stalked back to my room to get dressed. "I'm gonna let Bruce take you over to the med lab, Ella!"

I heard the door shut and realized there was a single apartment door between Bruce and me. It was the closest we'd been to one another since we'd kissed. I could feel my heart rate speed up a little as I pulled clothes on. Interesting. I took a deep breath, and a huge swallow of coffee and headed out to greet him. I was dragging my hair back into a ponytail as I walked toward him.

"Good morning, Bruce." I forced myself to use a bright tone. He laughed and looked at his watch.

"It's two-forty-five, Ella," he corrected.

"Well, it's still before noon in Seattle, which is where I was less than twelve hours ago, so it counts," I rationalized. I popped back into my room for the coffee I'd left on the dresser and rejoined him. "Lead the way."

Bruce said nothing on the elevator ride, and I was still too tired to be the least bit concerned by it, although I was burning with curiosity as to why he'd come to get me. We stepped into the med lab and the mystery was solved. Tony was also there, chatting with a tall redhead who must have been Dr. Richmond. And seated on the far side of the lab was a gorgeous blond, deeply engaged in a conversation with Thor, who I suspected was Steve Rogers. It was a mini-Avengers reunion, except Black Widow and Hawkeye were missing. From the scant amount of reading I'd done before falling asleep on my tablet, I thought I should probably be grateful Hawkeye wasn't present. He might bear me ill will considering what Loki had done to him.

Tony dragged the redhead over. "Lexy, this is Ella. Ella is Loki's actual daughter, not some weird mutant freakshow like you are." He said it with such affection that I knew immediately that the doctor had been adopted into his weird family of misfits.

"It's nice to meet you Ella. Is it actually Ella? He insists on getting mine wrong all the time," Dr. Richmond shook my hand. Her smile was kind, but her eyes showed a hint of mischief.

"It's not Lexy?" I asked.

"I prefer Lex," she corrected. I nodded. "If you want to head over here so I can start your exam in private," she emphasized the word, shooting a look at Tony, who was carefully pretending to ignore her, "we'll get the embarrassing stuff out of the way right away, and then you get to be the first official non-human test of the Stark Industries MRI."

"I'm half-human," I protested.

"You are. But only half. And when I did Loki's MRI, I discovered some shortcomings of a normal MRI that were addressed when Tony and I did the redevelop. And you get to be the first not-completely human person to go in!" Lex was excited by the prospect. I glanced over at Thor, in question. "Big strong thunder god is scared of small places."

I burst out laughing. "Seriously?"

"Like a heart-attack. I'll get him in there eventually. And if Daddy Dearest shows up again, I will totally be throwing him back into it. Head first." A dark look flashed across her face as she gestured to the exam bed and drew the curtain. She pushed the sleeves of her lab coat up, revealing a large white scar in the shape of a hand on her forearm. My eyes widened, and I tried to act cool about it, but she totally caught it. "That would be where the genetic transfer occurred. So for the rest of my life, I'll never be able to forget what he did to me."

"Thor said he's not really evil." I used it as a question. Lex snorted.

"Thor and Loki live by a warriors code. It's so weird because when he talks about Asgard, it sounds so much more advanced than Earth is, except for the fucking war shit," she explained. "So in Thor's eyes, Loki's actions had a reason behind them. They divorce themselves from emotional response in a lot of situations. I suspect that's what split him and Jane." As she spoke, she was poking and prodding at me. I nodded and retreated into my thoughts, only speaking when I was needed to answer a question. I stood, I sat, I bent over, I raised my hands over my head. I would have hopped on one foot but that apparently wasn't necessary.

Lex pulled a tray over and began preparing a needle for a blood draw. I eyeballed the needle and shook my head. "No, you're going to need a 21 gauge or bigger. I have tough skin and my veins are like rock."

Lex looked up at me, eyebrow raised. "Huh?"

"My mom is a doctor. I know needles. Particularly because I've always been a difficult stick. Instinct makes people want to go with a smaller gauge but my veins are tough. You're going to have to jam that in there," I explained.

"Isn't that incredibly painful?" She rummaged around in the tray drawer for the larger needle.

"Yes. But it's less painful than having someone dig around trying to get a skinny needle into the vein." I put the tourniquet on my arm for her, just so the vein would be good and visible by the time she was ready. She took my arm and felt the vein. She was so expressive, I could almost see her thinking through the stick before she set the needle against my skin. She began to press against my arm with the needle, but she was too gentle. As soon as she realized what was going on, she gave me a good jab and the needle slipped into my skin and on into the vein.

"You're almost as hard to stick as Loki," she commented.

"Makes sense," I shrugged. I yawned, still tired. A moment later, Lex yawned. From beyond the curtain I heard another loud yawn. "Did no one sleep last night?"

"Steve and I don't sleep well at the best of times," Lex offered as she finished drawing my blood, "but last night I slept like the dead. I don't know what's going on."

"The fuck, man? Is this some highly contagious narcolepsy?" I heard Tony exclaim from across the med lab. There was a mumbled response that might have ben Bruce, and then some more yawning. I couldn't help myself. I yawned again, which set Lex off again.

"I'm so sorry. I'm exhausted. It was a busy weekend, and jet lag," I apologized. Lex nodded and covered her mouth, yawning yet again. She looked down and wiped the corner of her eye. Her head shot back up, eyes narrowed, just as I was covering another yawn.

"It's you!" She exclaimed.

"What is?" I was baffled.

"The yawning. It's you," she explained. I shook my head, still not getting what she was saying. "Hear me out. Just before the battle of New York, Loki was brought onto the helicarrier –"

"The heli-what?" I asked. I wondered if that was like one of those gunships that had been crashed into the Potomac when SHIELD fell.

"Don't worry about it," she waved her hands then covered another yawn. "Loki was in a containment cell, and all the Avengers were hanging out in one of the labs. Fighting. Over nothing. They finally realized Loki was manipulating their emotions. Using magic, or his powers, or whatever."

"So?"

"You're exhausted, you said so yourself. Two transcontinental flights in three days, plus some emotionally heavy shit with your parents. You're bagged, you got what? A five hour nap this morning? Your ability to temper your interactions with the world around you is depressed because you're tired. You're projecting your exhaustion into the environment." She was so excited she nearly screamed.

"No. Not possible," I protested.

"I bet if we went back through your history, you'd find ample evidence to suggest you are capable of emotional manipulation." I don't think Lex realized how horrible what she had just said sounded. I'd lived most of my life assuming I was a good person, and emotional manipulation sounded ugly and unkind.

"I'm not sure what I've done to garner your dislike, Dr. Richmond, but I don't run around trying to make people miserable," I realized she was still holding a cotton swab on my arm, and wrenched it away from her.

"Shit, no. Sorry. That's not what I meant," she backpedalled. "It does sound evil. Totally not how I meant it, Ella. Your history says you have twin sisters. I was thinking more like, did you ever stop them from fighting, just by spending time with them or something."

"All the time. My parents called my bedroom the UN. They said there was more successful peace treaties negotiated there than anywhere else in the world," I responded.

"Think of something really funny," she suggested. I heard a chuckle from the other side of the lab. "Now something that makes you mad." Another voice grumbled. Her eyes lit up.

"Holy shit, you've got magic powers!" She exclaimed.

"Fuck me," I breathed, completely horrified.


	13. Chapter 13

There's only been a few times in my life when I've been desperate to become invisible. In eighth grade, when Jimmy McFadden found out I had a crush on him, he responded "That nerd? She wishes," in front of most of the school before commenting on my jiggly bum. That wasn't the part that made me want to vanish. It was when he said it was a shame I was such a nerd because I had "such excellent knockers". That's when I prayed for a hole to appear in the floor and suck me away because honestly, hell would have been preferable. And my boobs weren't and still aren't, that great. In senior year, the self-same boy, who'd become even more impossibly handsome, asked me to prom, but quickly announced that he'd only done it because he needed help studying for his chem final and figured if he showed me a good time, we'd both get something out of it. I wasn't sure about how his plan to deflower me worked out to mutual benefit. But once again, I wanted to disappear into the ground, never to be seen again.

Once I hit college, I was able to retreat from social circles that were petty and indifferent to the emotional games that teenagers played, and I hadn't had any further incidents of mortification. Until now, on learning I could potentially manipulate the emotions of those people around me. I was ashamed and embarrassed. What if every emotionally charged encounter in my life had only occurred because I had willed it into existence? Every first date that had gone well, or every one that had gone poorly, might have done so because I wanted it. Every man I'd ever been with flashed through my mind. It was a short slideshow, but what if they'd only been with me because I made them think they wanted it?

"Oh god," I flinched. What if Bruce had only kissed me because my stupid college crush had resurfaced and forced him to? "Oh god. I have to go." I stood up.

"We aren't done yet, sunshine," Lex put a hand on my shoulder and pushed me back on the exam table.

"No, I have to go. I can't be around people. I need to be locked away from everyone so my feelings don't affect them." I stood back up.

"And yet, regardless of your determination to go, you aren't forcing me to let you go with your brain. So sit the fuck down, and let's finish this assessment." She raised an eyebrow, like she was daring me to try to mess with her head.

"Maybe you're immune," I argued, "because Loki has affected you too."

"Affected is an interesting word. Tainted might be better." She looked over her shoulder, "does anyone out there feel an overwhelming urge to suit up and help Ella escape?" A chorus of negative answers returned. "See? We're solid. Settle your boots."

I relaxed just slightly, somewhat in awe of Lex Richmond. She had a different kind of confidence than I did, one that was tough. Like she'd been run through a gauntlet to get where she was. My confidence came from being told every day of my life that I could do and be whatever I wanted. I got the impression that Lex had fought for each accomplishment in her world. I suspected some people probably found her brusque, but I found her honest approach refreshing and reassuring.

She steered me toward the super swanky MRI she and Tony had developed, and I found that I was right. She was reassuring because she was honest.

"I don't know how you feel about small spaces, but I fucking hate them. Unfortunately, MRIs need to be smallish in order to get a good image. We enlarged the space as much as we could but it wound up being just a few centimetres. There's some clicking that happens in there, and the machine whirs, but if you tell me what kind of music you like, I can jack some tunes to you." She made the explanation seem like a social chat. It relaxed me quite a bit.

She hadn't told me about the super secret light show she and Tony had wired into the MRI, so while I listened to music, I got to watch a colour organ project colours across the inside of the machine. If anything, it was hard to remember not to bop my head to the music. The time past faster than I thought it should have. She led me back to the med lab and walked me over to a treadmill.

"So now we're going to check your endurance. When this happened," she gestured at her arm, "I was suddenly enhanced. I could run faster for longer with little effect on my general energy store. Since you've always been this way, I'm curious to see how you do."

I snorted. "I can't run for shit, Lex."

"Show me," she nodded at the treadmill. I hopped on and let her get me started. And of course, she started me way too fast. I slowed the machine down and kept it to a brisk walk. She raised an eyebrow but at my returned glare, said nothing. I kind of wished it was one of those swanky treadmills with the TV attached because I hated being social when I was sweating, but staring at the wall was also really boring. The stupid thing could have at least faced the window so I could look out over the city. After ten minutes I was feeling kind of done, and said so. Lex laughed and shook her head.

"This is an endurance test. And you're walking, not running. So you can either choose to run, which will burn you out faster, or keep walking all night," she laughed. I gaped. "I know. Bitchiest doctor that ever lived in bitchy doctor land, right?"

"Something like that," I huffed, but I increased the speed on the treadmill. Not quite to a run, as I wasn't sure my heart would take the shock. I had done next to nothing other than sit in a lab during my Master's studies.

"What's your sport?" She asked.

"I don't have one." It wasn't actually true. I'd been on a rep soccer team during high school and my undergrad was on a soccer scholarship.

"I don't buy it," she disagreed.

"She had a full ride for soccer in college," Tony offered from across the room. I scowled in his direction.

"This should come back then," Lex laughed, and bumped the speed up so I was jogging. I grunted and lurched forward into a run. The thing about soccer was it was short bursts of really intense exertion. I was not a distance runner. I could do bursts of speed, but I had put on weight during the last few years, and I was out of shape, so I doubted those bursts of speed would really be considered speedy. I settled into a slow jog and focused on a spot on the wall, and let the soundtrack that was constantly running in my head take over, tuning everything around me out. I wasn't paying any attention to Lex when she pressed the stop button, and I stumbled a little on the slow down, but didn't quite lose my balance.

"I thought you said this was endurance?" I asked. Lex nodded at the clock on the treadmill with an eyebrow quirked. It said sixty minutes.

"How long was I running?" I asked, double-checking the clock. Yeah, it said sixty minutes.

"Fifty minutes. At 5 miles per hour. So I'd say you've got some endurance left. You should consider taking running up," she suggested.

"You say that to everyone," Tony snorted. "Lex is desperate for running buddies. I think she might be bored of Steve." Lex smacked Tony in the arm, laughing.

"That's not true!" She protested. "About Steve, anyhow. I do like having new running partners though."

"I'm not going to start running. I like sitting. And feeling my ass get bigger." I stepped off the treadmill and sat down on the nearest chair to illustrate my point. "Only thing missing right now is some ice cream." Lex shook her head and handed me a bottle of water.

"Use your imagination," she teased. I stuck out my tongue and reached for the towel on the crossbar of the treadmill to wipe myself off.

XXX

I'd managed to escape for a shower while Lex crunched the data on my assessment. I wrapped myself in one of the super plush awesome towels I'd purchased and padded across my room to get dressed when a voice interrupted me.

"Ms. Carmichael, Dr. Richmond would like to see you in the med lab." The crisp British accent startled me. I shrieked and jumped into my closet. "Your heart rate has just accelerate, Ms. Carmichael. Should I assume you haven't read your suite orientation manual?"

"I skimmed it!" I argued.

"In that case, I am J.A.R.V.I.S., the artificial intelligence Mr. Stark has programmed, primarily for his benefit. I am, however, in use throughout the tower, and can see to any needs you may have as they arise. Which includes forwarding messages like the one I just passed on."

"Right. Uh, thanks?"

"That is not necessary, but you are welcome, Ms. Carmichael."

"Okay." I stepped out of the closet. "You can't see me, can you?"

"No, visual monitoring would be a violation of your right to privacy in your own home," it (he?) responded.

"But you can monitor my vital signs?"

"For your safety only, Ms. Carmichael." I couldn't help but look at the ceiling when it spoke. I dropped my towel and dressed hastily, not quite believing that there was no video link, but deciding if there was video, it was because everyone at Stark Industries was destined to see me naked, or in some state of undress. I hurried out of my suite and back to the med lab.

"Did you know there's an AI in the ceiling? Creepy as hell." I asked Lex as I walked through the door. I didn't realize Tony and the gang were still hanging around, until I heard Tony stifle a laugh. I shot him a dirty look and turned back to Lex. "So?"

"You have some clear differences from Loki, which makes sense, as you aren't a clone. And you and I have some pretty clear differences as well. I'm significantly stronger than you. But your intelligence is off the charts," Lex offered.

"We didn't do any intelligence testing." I was confused.

"Tony might have hacked some networks to get some extra information. Did you know that you qualified for Mensa when you were, like, six?"

"Yes."

"Did you know they rescinded your qualification when you were nineteen because they decided you must have cheated?" She pressed.

"No. But it doesn't surprise me. I rewrote every exam in first year for the same reason until the college decided that I had to write all my exams in a private room."

"That didn't bother you?" She asked.

"After high school? No. The academic advisory panel approached it like they were looking out for both our interests, and I agreed. It ensured there was no dishonesty on either side," I shrugged. "It meant I didn't have to keep worrying about rewriting exams."

"That's a remarkably calm response," she raised an eyebrow, as though she didn't believe I could be zen about anything.

"Just because Loki has self-control issues doesn't mean I do. My mother is the calmest, coolest person I've ever met. I do have half her DNA, you know." I couldn't help but laugh. Lex broke into a wide grin.

"You know, that's so true. I can't help but focus on the Loki in you, but your mum must be pretty remarkable to have attracted his attention. You'll have to fill me in on the story," Lex leaned back against a counter and scribbled some notes on her tablet, "but another time."

"Sure. In the meantime, can I go? I have a ton of work to catch up on." I had found all the testing pretty invasive, and really wanted some time in the lab, alone with my thoughts, to build stuff. Lex didn't say no, so I took the opportunity to leave, heading down to the Starbucks in the lobby for an enormous cup of coffee before heading to the lab.

XXX

I was alone in the lab. It was beautiful. I had half expected some of the nigh labbers to be hanging around, but it was eerily quiet. I accessed the online radio and set up some music to break up the silence as I worked on the water reclamation miniaturization. My parents had always teased me about being born in the wrong decade, and I was completely thrilled to find a Big Band music station. The speaker on my desk was set at the perfect level to not interfere with my work; not so loud that it irritated me, and not so quiet that it was distracting. I tapped my foot and pulled my magnification glasses back down. Tony had dropped a set of customized tools off for me before I'd headed home and I was astonished and pleased with how well they fit my hands.

I must have lost track of the time as I worked, but I realized I was sitting in silence again. The playlist on the radio station had been about three hours. I flicked through the screen and found another similar playlist and hit play. The familiar strains of one of my favourite torch songs filled my space and without realizing it, I started singing along. Singing was my guilty pleasure. It released stress, and made me happy. In light of the discovery earlier in the day, it was probably a good idea I keep singing. It would at least have the side effect of making the people around me happy.

"Is there anything you can't do?" A voice pulled me out of the tiny space my vision had tunneled down on. It took a minute before my eyes acclimated to the dark lab space after staring down on my backlit workbench. I pushed the magnification glasses up to the top of my head.

"Bruce," I breathed. "Uh, hi."

"Tony said he could hear you singing and that he couldn't help but smile. I could use some happy," he apologized.

"How did he –" I paused, "Nevermind. J.A.R.V.I.S, can you block the audio feed from this lab?"

"Certainly, Ms. Carmichael," it responded.

"And activate override block protocols," Bruce added. I quirked an eyebrow at him. "So Tony can't just override your request unless he comes down and does it from here." He explained.

"Of course, Dr. Banner." The AI sounded almost sentient; the tone it spoke in was so familiar and friendly. I began to clear away my mess and realized my project drawers were cluttered and messy, and half the reason I'd wanted to work was to tidy them. I emptied the debris out of the reclamation apparatus drawer onto the top of my desk and stowed it. As Bruce watched in what appeared to be horrified awe, I cleared out my drawers and began organizing parts and components in the small storage containers that Markus had left on my desk before the weekend in a subtle suggestion that I needed to better organize myself.

"How do you get anything done?" He asked.

"A clean desk is a sign of a diseased mind," I retorted, flicking various screws into containers according to size. Bruce leaned back against the desk beside me, his arms crossed over his chest. I felt like I was being graded, or somehow measured. "You can't fail me in this lab, Doctor." I winked. He chuckled. It was a low rumble, warm and friendly.

"To be honest, Tony is more disorganized than you are. You might win the intelligence leg of this triathlon though." He pushed off the edge of the desk and stepped over to look at my various piles of supplies. "You have plans for all this?"

"Hell no, I always over-order and then just return stuff to distribution. Saves me having to reorder during a project," I laughed.

"And one of the stores trolls hasn't come to kill you in your sleep? They have to recount every single one of those million teeny screws when you return them, you know."

"I'm sure they have a sorter or a counter or something. I'm not going to mess around with having to worry about lot numbers and compliance and quality control issues by having to reorder," I shook my head and shrugged.

"I think Tony might be the only one who gets away with that," Bruce warned me.

"Well, no one has come to stab me in the eye yet." I snapped the lid on a container and pulled out the deep drawer at the bottom of my desk. Bruce let out a low whistle. "That's impressive, Ella."

He squatted down beside the drawer and lifted a few containers out of the drawer. My real dirty secret, despite how slobby Markus though I was, was that I wasn't slobby at all. My materials were all managed and labeled when they were not in use. My desk was only a mess when I was mid-project.

"There's a lot of spare parts here," Bruce commented.

"I keep enough to rebuild every component I've actively worked on in a six month period. Don't tell anyone. I like to cultivate the messy genius mystique." I took the containers back and carefully placed them in their original spots. I wasn't sure if Bruce had noticed that they were in part number order, and I wasn't sure I wanted him to know. I dropped a piece of paper on the stacks to separate them from what I was going to add, so I didn't have to figure out where to start the next time I was in the lab.

"Can I buy you dinner?" Bruce suddenly asked. I lost my grip on the drawer and slammed it shut by accident, startling both of us.

"Sorry!" I exclaimed. Bruce cringed.

"I'm sorry. Of course you wouldn't. I'm probably close to twenty years older than you." He pushed his hand through his hair and began to back away. I grabbed his arm to stop him.

"You might be ten years older than me. Maybe?" I reassured him. "I'm starving. So I hope you meant right now."

"Reassure me I'm not robbing the cradle first." He looked so uncomfortable that I couldn't help but smile.

"My thirtieth birthday is in three weeks."

"Oh. You're much older than you look," he blurted. "I'm sorry. I mean, you look quite youthful."

"I'm half Jotun teenager, it's okay to say I look young." I realized my hand was still on his arm. "In fact, I'll even be flattered when you tell me I look young when we're old and grey." What was wrong with me? Why would I say something so bold and outrageous to him before we'd even made it through one date? I wanted to fade into a corner, and melt into a pool, and ooze down an air vent to get away.

"Maybe we should get through dinner first." His smile was awkward, but not unfriendly. I laughed uncomfortably. In the weird silence that followed my stomach growled loudly. We both laughed and the strange moment was over. "Before your stomach unleashes the Other Guy, even."

"Sounds like a plan," I agreed and we headed to the elevator.

Bruce led me out into the warm night, and stopped and looked in both directions, deep in thought. "Three blocks that way is some of the best Thai you'll ever eat. Six blocks the other way is a great burger place." My eyes fell on the hot dog cart across the street.

"I've never had street meat in New York City," I tugged him toward the sidewalk. He looked at me, his brow wrinkled in surprise.

"This isn't really a first date, Ella," Bruce protested.

"I'd argue our first date was when you kissed me," I winked, and slipped my hand in his and pulled him across the street. I stopped in front of the street vendor and flashed my best smile. The guy grinned back.

"What'll it be for you, prinzessa?" He was every hot dog cart street vendor trope I'd ever seen in a TV show. I brought my hands to my face to mask my excitement.

"Just a hot dog and a diet Coke, I guess," I ordered and tilted my head at Bruce. "He's buying." I told the guy all the stuff I wanted on it, and greedily took it from him. Before Bruce could even pay for it, I'd taken a huge bite. So good.

"You're going to pay for this later," Bruce shook his head and took a bite from his hot dog. I shook my head and sat on the nearest bench.

"No. So good, so worth it." I looked up at the tower and shook my head. The hot dog, the dream job, the high school crush buying me dinner. Some weird balance in the universe was trying to make up for my dubious parentage, at any rate. There was something so ordinary and nice about sitting there with Bruce, eating hot dogs and saying nothing. Like I wasn't the daughter of a god, and he wasn't the incredible Hulk. Like we were completely normal, albeit genius level intelligence, people. I sighed and took a sip from my drink. Bruce's arm snaked around my shoulder and he leaned over and kissed my forehead. I slid my bum closer on the bench and leaned against him.

"You sure this isn't a first date?" His voice broke the quiet peace between us.

"Why?" I laughed.

"Because it's the kind of first date we'll talk about when we're old and grey." His voice rumbled in his chest. I looked up at him, a little bit surprised. He'd seemed so cautious while we were still in the tower. He dipped his head and his lips met mine.


	14. Chapter 14

His lips were soft. It's all I could think about. How perfectly soft they were. And the gentle desperation of his kiss. Like he was terrified that he would have to run away at any moment. Which I suppose was true. The risk made it more exciting, I realized, as I leaned into him and responded. I slid my hand up his arm, anchoring him to me, defying the rational realization that eventually this kiss would have to stop lest we unleash the Hulk. But I couldn't be rational. I'd been smitten with Bruce Banner's brain for so long. Discovering his gentle soul and kind person made him all that much more desirable, and I was not going to let go of him, no matter what that unleashed.

We broke apart naturally. I was a little breathless, and my heart was racing. Bruce's eyes flashed green and he blinked and took a deep breath to still himself. When his eyes returned to normal, I leaned in and kissed him again. He chuckled awkwardly and broke the kiss.

"We are playing with fire, Ella." His voice was low, and gravelly. Maybe the Other Guy started deep inside before breaking free.

"I was a girl scout. I've got fire safety nailed," I winked. I linked my hand in his and dragged him to his feet. I pulled him back to the building and into the elevator, and punched my floor. I said nothing as the elevator took us up. When it opened at my floor, he hesitated.

"Ella," he paused at the doors. I shook my head and pulled him off the elevator.

"I think that the Other Guy needs to know that I'm not going to hurt you," I theorized.

"I don't think that's how he works," he argued.

"I think it is. Look, you transform when you, Bruce, have been made vulnerable. I think the Other Guy senses that and that's why he comes out. So we need to make sure that he knows I'm not going to hurt you." I'd been thinking about it a lot.

"That's an interesting theory. Tony's theory is that he protects me. That he manifested to protect me from the Gamma radiation," Bruce considered.

"Well, that's two geniuses who think the same thing," I winked and pulled him across the threshold of my apartment. "Can you drink?"

"Probably not wise," Bruce declined. I nodded and grabbed us both a bottle of water, and shooed him over to the couch. I sat down beside him and turned the TV on to something mindless before snuggling up right against him. I had knots in my stomach. I was never this forward with men. Ever. We sat in silence for a few minutes, and I took his hand in mine. He looked down at me and sighed, resignedly slipping his arm around me.

"This is nice." It was almost a question. But I was insecure, so I had to ask it. Bruce laughed.

"What the hell are we watching?"

"I have no idea," I laughed. I sat up straight beside him and leaned forward, brushing my lips against his. He dropped his water bottle and brought his hand to my waist. My hands found their way up to his messy brown curls and I ran my hands through them, pulling him closer to me. Bruce ran a hand across my back and down the side of my hip, suddenly deepening the kiss and pressing me back against the cushions on the back of the couch. We slid down until he was on top of me, his strong fingers kneading my thigh. His mouth was hard against mine and I could feel my heart racing.

And then I could feel his racing too. It was accelerating dangerously, and I felt my own heart gallop to try to catch up. I drew in a deep breath through my nose, not breaking the kiss and concentrated on my heart rate, forcing it to slow like I used to when I played soccer. I felt a tingle of static across my shoulders, and then, a shock, like a million little snowflakes hitting bare skin, rocketing across my entire body and out, like the ripples in a pond. The very air around me felt electric. I pulled my mouth away from Bruce's long enough to fill my lungs and I felt that energy pull back into me, leaving the room unnaturally still. My heart slowed, and then I felt a second heart, beating in rhythm with mine.

"What did you just do, Ella?" He breathed the words across my mouth.

"I don't know." A wave of dizziness crashed over me, and I pulled Bruce back to me, meeting his mouth with my own. His need was so raw I could feel it, marking my skin like the sun on a hot day. Everywhere he touched me was on fire. He pulled back again and looked at me, puzzled. His eyes were the same calm grey that they always were.

"You stopped me from changing," he breathed, pushing up to his knees. I shook my head.

"No, I couldn't have."

"You did. You slowed my heart rate. You stopped the change." He was pale, like he wasn't sure if he should be amazed or terrified. Or a little of both.

"Maybe it was something else?" My voice was small. I had scared him, made him uncomfortable. He was going to get up and leave and it was all my fault. But it was also not my fault because I had no idea what I'd done.

"I need to go." He pushed himself to his feet. I scrambled after him and followed him to the door.

"I'm sorry, Bruce, I –" he interrupted me with a forceful kiss, pushing me hard against the wall beside my door. His hand raked down my side again leaving a tingling awareness of everywhere he touched me. He pulled away and stared at me.

"Don't. Don't apologize," he ordered. "I just need to run some tests. Figure out what happened. This isn't finished."

"What isn't finished?" My voice was barely a whisper. He pressed his lips against mine again.

"This. You. Me. Whatever is happening. It's not over yet, Ella." His breath mixed with mine and I leaned forward and tugged his lip between my teeth. He groaned and pulled away. "You need some rest, Ella." He pulled opened the door and slipped out, latching it quietly. I put my hand against the door and pressed my face to it. My breath caught and suddenly I was exhausted, yawning against my hand. I took a long, hot shower and fell into bed, asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

XXX

It had been two weeks since the incident with the kissing and the pulse wave, and whatever the hell what happened with Bruce and I happened. Two weeks of him carefully avoiding me, two weeks of me spending my evenings munching popcorn on my couch, usually with Angela, deconstructing and reconstructing every moment of the damn kiss, right down to the electric shock that had run through my body.

"I don't know, Ang, I think I should give up," I sighed. "He's not interested. If he were, he would have at least said something by now."

"Give him a chance to try to figure out what is happening. You don't want him to Hulk out the first time you're in bed together. This is going to be slow, but he's such a decent person. Be patient. It'll be worth it in the long run," Angela reassured me. We'd had this conversation about a dozen times. I sighed again.

"I see Thor more than I see Bruce," I complained. "Maybe I should go for Thor. It would make the whole hammer thing a little less weird. And he's hot."

"He is your uncle! Grosso!" Angela protested.

"Not genetically!" I laughed. I was kidding. Thor was cool, but not really my type. He was too muscly and big and loud. My taste had always run to quiet and nerdy. And the uncle thing did kind of gross me out. Angela laughed and threw a handful of popcorn at me. I shrieked and tried to duck, and Angela threw another handful. As the popcorn hit me, an enormous crash occurred behind me. I didn't think popcorn kernels were quite so powerful. My shriek of laughter turned into a shriek of fear and I covered the back of my head. Glass exploded around me, and I realized the window was breaking from an external pressure coming in, not from popcorn kernels hitting it.

Angela screamed and threw the popcorn bowl in the air, scrambling out of the living room over the back of the couch. She squatted by the kitchen island and peered around the corner. I turned to face the window that had exploded and screamed again.

There was a massive man, wielding a sword and round shield stepping into my apartment. He smashed the sword against the shield and roared. The hair sticking out below his helmet was loose and long and red. He had bracers on his forearms, but his huge upper arms were bare, and he had leather plate armour on, like he was some kind of Viking. My heart was pounding and I took a step back toward the kitchen.

"Run. Go get Thor. Or Tony. Or someone," I whispered to Angela. The wind from the altitude of my floor ate the words, but Angela nodded and scuttled toward the door. The warrior screamed something in a language I didn't understand and then smashed his sword against his shield again. I screamed, and scrambled over the back of the couch as he began moving toward me. A sparking streak shot past him and I felt the reassuring weight of Mjolnir in my hand. I took a defensive pose and waited.

"Come, fight like a warrior and earn your place in Valhalla!" he roared as he advanced on me. I shook my head and backed up into the kitchen island, using the opportunity to slip to the side of it, putting the structure between us. I felt like I needed to pee. Then I thought I might pee my pants. The warrior was bigger than Thor, broader through the shoulders, and the rage coming off him was palpable. It was, as far as I was concerned, the perfect time to put this apparent mood manipulation powers to work.

"Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts." I murmured to myself as I kept my eye on the man.

Just as he threw himself at me, Thor barreled through my door. Again. Between him and Mjolnir, Stark Industries was going to be replacing a lot of windows and doors. I mean, I guess I bore some of the blame, subconsciously summoning the hammer every time I was in harm's way, but this was more than a little ridiculous. He threw himself between the warrior, and me and knocked the warrior back.

The man regained his feet and crouched in defensive pose across us. He looked from Thor to me, confused, and dropped his sword arm. He stood straight, his brow wrinkled, and again looked between Thor and me. He took a step toward Thor.

"Uncle," he nodded, significantly calmer than he'd been even seconds before. My eyebrow raised and I relaxed just enough to pay close attention to the conversation that was about to occur between the two men.

"Leif," Thor acknowledged. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I sensed Loki's power at work on Midgard. It was weak at first, and I tracked it here. There I felt nothing. But then, a fortnight again, I felt it again and it was strong. I was worried he'd attained the Tesseract again. I came to prevent that, and found this woman." The man Thor called Leif pointed at me. "Has Loki taken to shape shifting again? This one doesn't look like he did last time he took on female form." Leif's narrowed eyes appraised me. I felt very much like I had when Thor saw me naked, and blushed, despite being in my more concealing pajamas. I was struck with the overpowering urge to stick out my tongue at him, but held back. He was still holding the sword, after all.

"You are correct that you've sensed Loki's power, but it is only a hint of it," Thor explained. "This is Ella. Elizabeth Lokisdottir, meet my nephew Leif Lo-"

"Fandralsson. I did not know that Loki had been siring more bastards." Leif interrupted, his tone caustic. He rocked back on his heels and really looked at me. I felt small and dirty. I felt my cheeks redden and my temper flare.

"Excuse me? Did you seriously just call me a bastard?" My grip on Mjolnir tightened, and I could feel sparks coursing up my arm. Leif raised an eyebrow and smirked, looking from me back to Thor and to me again. A crack of thunder sounded above us. He looked at the hammer in my hand, back to Thor and out the window, finally making the connection. The smirk vanished.

"She wields Mjolnir?" The astonishment in his voice matched the blanching of his face.

"She is worthy." Thor's words were simple. Leif dropped to one knee in front of me, everything about his demeanour changing.

"I apologize for whatever slight I have caused, Ella Lokisdottir. If you are worthy of Mjolnir, you are far better than I," he held his sword out to me. I looked at Thor questioningly. Thor nodded and gestured that I should take the sword. I did.

"It's Ella Carmichael. And thank you. I accept your sword?" I wasn't sure what to say. Thor nodded again. "And give it back? Just don't threaten me with it again." I pushed it back toward Leif. He lifted his head and smiled, just enough that I could see how handsome he really was. The guy was probably a lady killer on Asgard. He was easily as hot as Thor. Maybe a bit more. I handed Mjolnir back to Thor to show him I didn't feel threatened any longer, and he didn't hesitate, but stepped close and wrapped me in a crushing, strong hug.

"I have always desired a sister, but my mother gave me naught but brothers." His tone had gone from rage to joy in the blink of an eye. It was kind of creepy. I pulled out of the embrace and shook my head.

"I don't understand," I said, holding him at arms length. Leif blinked and looked at his feet. He took a deep breath, pushing it out forcefully. When his eyes met mine again, the storm raging in them was enough. I didn't need to hear the story that followed.

"In our culture, we take the name of the man who raised us. Not the man who sired us. I am Leif Fandralsson, but I was once known as Lokisson." His voice was low and gentle and I could tell it pained him to share his secret. My brain was slow to process the information he gave me, and then suddenly I gasped.

"You're my brother?" I was astonished. I knew about the horse, and the snake, and the wolf, and the queen of the dead. I had no idea Loki had other children. Normal children. Well, as normal as a six-and-a-half-foot-tall-broad-like-a-barn-Asgardian could be, anyhow. I wanted to check him for horns, or a tail, or a melted face, or something. He looked completely normal. I began to hope that maybe not all of Loki's children were monsters. Maybe I would turn out okay. He nodded.

"And you are my sister. Half-human." There was awe in his voice. Like maybe he was thinking the same things that I was. "Your mother must be remarkable."


	15. Chapter 15

"Does anyone get how creepy that sounds?" It gave me a full-body shudder every time someone said my mother was remarkable. Not because I didn't agree, but because the word was dripping in innuendo. My mom was incredible, and amazing, and a woman ahead of her time. She was absolutely remarkable. But the way it was being said made me want to scream. And I know innuendo is subjective but every time I heard the word I got a mental image of something significantly less remarkable than my mother.

"Her mother is a healer of some renown, Leif," Thor interjected. "She has forged paths where other women have found it difficult."

"A healer?" Leif's face darkened. "So after all this time, he still tries to replace her?"

Thor turned to face me. "Leif's mother was Loki's first wife –"

"Sigyn?" I interrupted.

"No. Sigyn came after Mother," Leif corrected. "Your Midgardian tales do not tell of my mother's marriage to Loki. I ensured that any record of their union was destroyed in this realm so that his taint would not be on her. The people of Midgard, in a different time, they revered her as a god."

"But Loki was revered as a god as well. Why would it be so terrible to have them associated with one another?" I asked.

"The god of lies with the goddess of healing?" Leif scoffed. There was a puzzle piece in my head that suddenly clicked into place.

"Wait, what?" I gaped. "Your mother is Eir? That goddess of healing?"

"You know Asgard well for a Midgardian," Leif quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I grew up on this shit. Some people grow up hearing fairy tales. I heard Norse myths," I shrugged. Leif tilted his head.

"Oh?"

I got up and crossed the living room, careful to avoid the broken glass. I grabbed the mythology book I'd brought back from Seattle and returned to the living room, handing it to Leif. He looked at it and smiled, handing it back right away.

"I know this book," he chuckled.

"I do too. Inside out and backward," I admitted. Leif took it again and looked it over, opening and closing it. He sat down on my coffee table so he was facing me, subconsciously rubbing his hands across the smooth cover of the book. I was astonished the table didn't collapse under his weight. He was massive, and fully armoured. His eyes narrowed and a slow smile spread across his face.

"I know your mother. I signed this for her when she bought it. She was great with child at the time. You, I would imagine." He flipped to the front page. His eyes flicked across the inscription and his smile grew wider. "Yes. Althea. She was lovely, kind. Wise eyes. You must have been born soon after; she was in that uncomfortable late stage of pregnancy. Stunning though, even as heavy with babe as she was." He was lost in the memory of my mother, his eyes closed. "I never would have guess that was my kin within her belly."

"You mean to tell me you've been crawling around Earth for thirty years, writing books and generally being creepy?" I blurted. Thor laughed. He didn't even try to look chastised when Leif glared at him.

"I spent most of my writing time in Asgard. Or in other realms, while looking for Loki," he explained.

"Yeah, what's with that vendetta?" I understood not liking Loki, simply based on the attacking the earth thing. But Leif was probably a million years old and he was still pissed about something that had obviously happened when he was little.

"Loki betrayed my mother, abandoned us both, took up with a monster and was more concerned with his children by her than what damage he had done in my mother's life. She lost everything. Except me." His eyes flashed and I knew I wasn't really getting the whole story. "It was by the grace of Frigga that we continued to be welcome in court."

"I didn't realize," I apologized. Leif shook his head.

"And how could you? I eliminated any record that tied Mother to him." Leif's tone was kind but dismissive.

"Which brings me to this question. If you don't recognize Loki as your father, why would you recognize me as your sister?" It felt hollow, knowing how much he hated our mutual parent. Leif leaned back on the chair and considered the question.

"You have her eyes. Everyone tells you that, don't they? But you have his intelligence. Does that frighten you, now that you've met him?" Leif ignored my question.

"No. I am more than the genes in my body," I retorted. Leif nodded.

"As am I. We have more than a father in common. We have our mothers in common too. Raised by healers, the children of the god of lies. I would guess we have a lifetime of common experience. And we alone of Loki's progeny have retained that spark that you would call humanity. We are alone, together." He had obviously felt alone for a long time, and maybe he saw me as company in a tenuous existence. For whatever reason, he was determined to count me as his sibling.

"Suppose I buy into this. What does it mean?" I demanded.

"I know not what you ask," Leif was confused.

"Well, okay, we're half-siblings. But what does that mean? Are we suddenly going to be having family gatherings? Going to Disneyland? Camping? Weiner roasts in the backyard in June?" I was trying to see the significance of what this new relationship was going to mean, aside from more weirdness. I guess I was asking if it was going to be cool, or if it was going to be awkward like I felt every time Mjolnir flew into my hand. Leif looked stumped.

"I taught my brothers how to fight, keep their armour in repair, charm ladies. I am not sure those are skills you would need," he began. I laughed.

"Yeah, not a lot of call for me to charm ladies," I admitted. "Do you have any of Loki's powers?"

"I did not train any of my magics other than those for healing. And those were a gift from my mother." He shook his head.

"I can manipulate emotions," I admitted. "Like, of the people around me." Leif raised an eyebrow and glanced at Thor.

"It is weak, but it is there. I would imagine it is much more powerfully felt by the Midgardians," he confirmed. Leif scratched his chin, the stubble making a scratchy sound. I waited for him to say something, although I'm not sure what I was hoping for. I think I wanted him to tell me he could teach me better control.

"I cannot help you there, Ella. The only person who could," he paused and glanced at Thor, "would have been my grandmother. But she was lost when the dark elves attacked Asgard."

"But now we know that Loki is alive, Leif –" Thor began. Leif rose and stepped toward him, his face changing from calm to raging in seconds.

"I told you he was not dead! I told you that you should not believe he was gone! I warned you! You thought me mad!" Leif's interruption was explosive, and Thor sprang to his feet, Mjolnir low at his side.

"That does not change that he nearly died to save me. You are my nephew because he is my brother, do not forget yourself, boy." Thor's tone was a cold, dangerous calm. "You are not the only one who had been hurt by him; you do not hold exclusive right to claim damage. Loki is alive. He is the only one who can teach your sister to control the magic she owns. If you are so intent on helping her find her place in the world, finding your father would be a good start." His fingers curled around Mjolnir and I found myself wanting to melt into the couch, while at the same time, feeling the crackle of energy coming from the hammer.

"Or maybe he could teach me to fight. It's not something anyone learns here anymore. But if your stupid hammer is going to keep shooting into my hand every time I'm in trouble, maybe I should know how to use it?" I pointed the question at Thor. He shook his head.

"Leif is not worthy, so he cannot teach you to use Mjolnir." He looked thoughtful. "But perhaps I should spend time giving you lessons."

"Yeah. Awesome." I didn't actually want to learn to use the damn thing. What I really wanted was to go back to the way I was before I'd found that stupid hammer. Just another lucky kid who'd scored an internship at Stark Industries. It was never intended to be a boring or ordinary life, but it was certainly more boring and ordinary than anything that had happened since that moment I'd wrapped my hand around Mjolnir. I was already exhausted. Adding in 'Norse god training' was just going to make things worse.

XXX

"So, the screaming, sword-waving psycho is your brother? Not surprising," Angela commented over her giant, disgusting waffle. I wasn't even hungry for my eggs, I was so overwhelmed by everything.

"How is that not surprising?"

"Well, your father is a psycho. So it stands to reason the massive Ginger beast is also a psycho," she shrugged and took a sip of her coffee.

"Massive Ginger beast?" I laughed. I rocked back in my chair. "Yeah, I guess that's a somewhat accurate description." The last Angela had seen of him, he'd been charging, sword and shield ready, toward me, screaming in what I'd later learned was the Alltongue, the language of Asgard. I'd understood it in the moment because I was holding Mjolnir. It was all very confusing. Angela looked over my shoulder and dropped her fork.

"Who is that?" She breathed. I'd become accustomed the way she was always checking out guys. It was actually kind of fun. She had great taste in men, so always was able to find something easy on the eyes to look at, regardless of whether we were in the commissary, or shopping, or out for an afternoon in the park. I followed her gaze to the guy she was swooning over, and choked on my coffee.

"That would be the massive, psycho, Ginger beast, Ang," I laughed.

"He cleans up good. Wow." She took a deep breath and shook her head. "Too bad about his dad."

"That's my genetics you're slighting too, Angela!" I protested.

"Yeah, but you're half-human so it's okay. I know you'll be fine. He's half god. Or is he all god? He looks all god. How does that work? Are they even gods? Holy shit, you're half god!" And Angela's squirrel-like train of thought derailed.

"Not at all god. Just alien. He's half two types of alien. I'm half one type. Thor guesses I'll probably live about a thousand years. Won't that be fucking awesome?" I was feeling snarky.

"If you get to be around guys that look like that, a thousand years will not be long enough," she waggled her eyebrows.

"Just to remind you. That's my brother, so grosso. More gross than Thor, thank you very much." I made a gagging gesture.

"Yeah, but you were considering Thor last night," Angela teased. I shook my head.

"No, not really." I finished my coffee and pushed my plate away. "I need to get back to the lab. Just promise me I can be the maid of honour when you pin Leif down." I winked and picked up my tray, stopping to drop it off at by the garbages. Leif saw me and waved me over. I sighed and headed toward him.

"Ella!" He was entirely too cheery for the morning. "I have spoken with Thor and was hoping we could meet again this afternoon."

I cringed. I needed a little time to adjust to all these crazy changes. Time away from brothers and uncles and hammers and myth and legend, and time just hanging out with components and screws and tools. I needed to build something to get my brain away from the chaos that was taking over my personal life.

"I –" I stalled, "uh –"

"She's busy. There's an issue with the miniaturization of the quantum beam accelerator I'm working on, and as Ella is an expert in the area, I'm going to be taking up most of her time," Bruce interrupted, holding two cups of coffee from the Starbucks in the lobby. He handed one to me, and nodded with his head for me to follow. I smiled in apology to Leif and trailed behind Bruce out of the lab.

"I'm not an expert in Quantum beam accelerators," I protested.

"You are becoming an expert in miniaturization though," he countered. I shrugged.

"That's arguable. I don't know if you can even miniaturize a quantum beam accelerator anyhow," I argued as we stepped onto the elevator, "I would be really difficult to –" Bruce interrupted me with a kiss.

"I lied. To get you to myself. There's no issue with anything. I just booked a day off and decided you are playing hooky with me," he explained. He leaned in to kiss me again and I dodged away.

"Excuse me? You don't get to swoop in all Captain Kissypants after ignoring me for two weeks!" I protested. "You got all hot and bothered and then ran away. And carefully avoided everything about me for two weeks. Not a word for two weeks, Bruce. You don't get to all of a sudden reappear, book days off for me and kiss me in the elevator!"

Bruce looked down at his feet, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. "I'm sorry. I panicked."

"I don't blame you. But you can't just vanish like that. I mean, you can. It's your life. But I'm left wondering what the deal is. If you like me, and you want to spend time with me, you have to treat me with more respect than that," I explained. He sighed and kept looking at his feet.

"Ella, please. I'm sorry. I," he paused and finally looked at me. "I haven't felt like this in a long time. I haven't let myself. Your work is intriguing, and your background is impressive and I saw your CV and thought you would be interesting to work with. And then you arrived and you're this passionate, brilliant engineer. Your brain is this beautiful puzzle, so you're interesting. And then you have some sort of magic power that prevents the Other Guy from taking over? You're too good to be true."

I laughed despite myself. "I think you've met my father? That's a pretty big minus in my books."

"And maybe that's why I panicked. I don't know. But I've been miserable for two weeks. And my work is suffering. And I guess maybe it doesn't matter. I feel calmer with you. Even when you aren't deliberately doing it." He leaned back against the elevator wall. "I figured, book us off for the day, take you out, show you the parts of the city I didn't break. As an apology for being a jackass."

"Does that work with other women?" I asked. He looked confused. "Saying their brains are beautiful puzzles?"

"I've never tried it on anyone before, but my guess would be no." One side of his mouth quirked up in a smirk. I sighed and let the resentment go.

"You're a lucky man, Dr. Banner. I kinda liked it." I leaned back against the elevator wall beside him. "If you play your cards right, I might even let you kiss me again."


	16. Chapter 16

The fabrication shop was noisy and dirty and there was a radio playing metal, blasting as loud as it could through crappy, tinny speakers. The guys were the only thing that wasn't a walking stereotype of a machine shop. Their coveralls were clean and in good repair and I was willing to lay down money that if I asked to see any of their hands there wouldn't be a single dirty fingernail in the lot. I was impressed. Everything about the shop was perfection.

I'd sent down the plans for the body for the washer a few days earlier and I'd had a message sitting in my email to come down and check out the work when I'd checked my inbox over morning coffee. One of the guys approached me, a smug smile that made me instantly uneasy spreading across his face. I realized I probably looked a little out of place, in my neat kitten heels and pencil skirt. I was dressed for another afternoon visiting high schools, not in my usual tee and jeans uniform for in the labs. With the outfit, and the styled hair and splash of make-up, he probably didn't recognize me from when I'd been toured around by Markus.

"How can I help you, ma'am?" He was polite at least. The last machine shop I'd stepped into I'd received more lewd comments than competently completed work.

"I got an email from Erik Schiffer this morning that my casing and drum are ready for first proofing," I explained.

"Ms. Carmichael! I never would have recognized you in that get-up. You clean up good," he offered an appreciative look and then cringed. "I'm sorry. That was inappropriate. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable."

I took a step back, a little surprised.

"Nothing wrong with giving a compliment," I shook my head, regretting that I couldn't remember his name.

"I'm having a hard time figuring out what is a compliment and what is harassment. I don't want to offend people. This job is like a dream come true, but I've been working in a machine shop in Jersey for a lot of years. It's a different culture." I could tell by the way he spoke that he was in earnest and really wanted to be sure he was fitting in with the corporate culture of Stark Industries. And quite frankly, even if that was the only reason he was trying, it was worth it. The rest would come eventually.

"You're okay so far. I'll let you know," I laughed. He led me over to Erik's office and stopped outside the closed door. Erik was on the phone with someone and it was heated. You could see him through his office door and he was gesturing wildly with one hand. His face was bright red. We looked at one another awkwardly and didn't say anything. Erik's voice got louder and I cleared my throat.

"I'm sorry. I know we were introduced, but I can't remember your name," I admitted. He smiled broadly.

"Yeah, you were way more interested in the machines when Markus brought you through. Aaron Smith," he offered his hand. I shook it. There was something refreshing about the strength of his grip. Like he was proving he had respect for me by not half-assing his handshake.

"Look kid, I don't care how fucking brilliant you are, everything goes into the queue. When it hits the front of the queue it gets fabricated. That's how I run this goddamn machine shop, and I run it that way with Pepper's approval. Your failure to plan ahead does not constitute a fucking emergency in my world!" We both jumped at the sound of the phone slamming into the cradle. My eyes met Aaron's and widened.

"Holy shit," I breathed.

"We've been having issues with the other intern," he explained. Erik flung open the door, and started ranting without even realizing I was there.

"That fucking prick wants us to bump him through the queue. We're partway through Carmichael's project and then Stark has a personal project in the queue, Reid's department has another project lined up and then Emerson's project can hit the machines. I'm pretty sure he got the same orientation that the other intern got. She's not a dipshit, and can follow directions, so what's his fucking excuse?" His arms were getting a workout, they were emphasizing so many of his words. I bit my lip to hide a smile at being referred to as 'not a dipshit'. Some compliments come from strange places, in strange ways. I wasn't foolish enough to not take them where I found them. Aaron coughed and raised an eyebrow, glancing over Erik's shoulder at me. Erik turned and sighed. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have had to hear that."

"Let's just proof my parts, and forget about it," I suggested. He nodded and tilted his head toward the back of the shop before leading me over.

"We have the parts fabbed and ready for powder coating, but I wanted to be sure you were happy with them first. And I thought you might want to have some fun with the colour. You requested white. That's boring. No one has a white washer and dryer any more. My wife bought us a set that's purple. She calls it aubergine but it's fucking purple. So you can do whatever you like colourwise." We wove between a couple of machines to get to the powdercoat room. I pulled out my tools and double-checked all the measurements against my plans. Everything looked perfect. I wanted to hug the pieces to me, I felt so strangely proud of what I'd accomplished. As I was flicking through plans on my tablet, a message popped up from Pepper asking me to call her.

"I'm sorry, I need to make a quick call, and then we'll talk colour," I apologized and took a few steps away from the men as I dialed Pepper. "This is Ella," I said when she answered.

"Ella, hi! Sorry, our appointment got bumped back until next week. I know you'd blocked this time off, so I want you to take the afternoon and do something fun. Angela tells me you haven't done anything remotely not-work-related in weeks." Pepper spoke quickly, like breathing would be a waste of time.

"That's not true. I went and saw the Statue of Liberty with Bruce just the other day," I protested.

"That was a week ago. Go out and do something. That's actually an assignment. From your boss," Pepper ordered. I laughed.

"Alright," I agreed. I turned back to Erik and Aaron and checked the last couple of measurements. Everything was perfect. "So, aubergine?" I asked.

"It's been done," Erik laughed. I smirked and pulled up a copy of the plans. I did a quick flood-fill of colour on a few parts and showed it to him and Aaron. They both cracked up and nodded. "Done. Just promise me that we can be there when you present it." Every completed prototype got a presentation to Pepper, Tony and the board of directors at Stark Industries. I nodded.

"Of course! You were instrumental in ensuring this project got made. And you recommended a colour change. I wouldn't want you to miss the reveal for the world," I laughed. Erik shook my hand and Aaron clapped me on the shoulder. He walked me back to the shop entrance.

"It was nice to actually met you properly, Ella. It's gonna be good to work with you." He struck me as a completely genuine person, and I could see that working with both him and Erik was going to be easy. They were fantastic artisans, and anyone who suggested a fabrication shop wasn't a place where art happened deserved to be shot. The work they had done for me was perfect and beautiful. I'd met a lot of people who complained that the guys only ran the machines, but there was a certain amount of finesse that was required to get excellent results, and from the look of my pieces, I knew I was working with experts.

"Thanks for showing me around." I stepped onto the elevator and headed back to the lab. There was a bouquet of daisies on my desk. The plain glass vase was tied with a bright pink ribbon. I looked at Jem, the guy whose desk was beside mine. He shrugged wordlessly and went back to whatever it was he was working on. I looked for a card but didn't find one, but whomever it was had done their research. Daisies were my favourite flower. Simple, plain and perfect. I'd learned about the Fibonacci sequence from daisies when I was a little girl. It had ignited my passion for math and stuck with me ever since.

I secured my desk and took the daisies with me back to my apartment. I placed them on the kitchen island, where I was sure to be able to see them from almost anywhere in my apartment. Once I was happy with how they were arranged, all puffed out like a dandelion cloud, I turned to my fridge and stared into it, willing something to leap out at me and demand to be eaten. Food didn't actually work that way, but I held out hope that in a place as advanced and mysterious as Stark Tower could be that someday my food would just know it was time to be eaten and present itself to me.

"Ms. Carmichael, are you finding the ambient temperature in the apartment too high?" J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice broke me out of the bored contemplation of the contents of my fridge.

"Huh? Why?" I was startled. J.A.R.V.I.S. and I didn't interact enough for it not to surprise me every time the voice spoke from my ceiling.

"The refrigerator has been open for 3 minutes and 17 seconds, Ms. Carmichael, and the heat signature in the apartment puts you directly in front of the door. Are you too warm?" J.A.R.V.I.S. asked. I could feel my cheeks flush and reached blindly for the first thing I saw before slamming the fridge closed.

"No, I'm fine. Just thinking about lunch," I explained. I'd grabbed sour cream. I sighed and reopened the fridge, replacing the sour cream on the shelf. I resumed staring at the contents of my fridge.

"Ms. Carmichael, as Mr. Stark would say, kindly stop calling penguins," J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke again. I barked out a laugh. It was the exact thing my father said when I spent too much time glaring into the fridge. I closed the door again and decided I was likely going to head out for lunch when a knock came at my door. I wasn't expecting anyone, as Angela had to finish her workday. Leif and Thor had both returned to Asgard earlier in the week, the day after my 'date' with Bruce, and I'd seen none of them since, although Bruce hadn't returned to completely avoiding me. He'd texted every morning to let me know he was busy on a project, but would touch base with me again in the afternoon to see about connecting for dinner. I wasn't quite sure what we were doing. Sort of seeing one another, I suppose.

As I daydreamed about what exactly was happening with Bruce, whomever it was at my door knocked again. I shook my head and walked over to open it.

"Are your ears burning?" I laughed when I saw it was Bruce. He looked confused.

"No?" He touched one of them and scratched his head. I laughed again.

"I was just thinking about you," I explained. He nodded, understanding. I held open the door and gestured for him to enter. "I was just thinking about what to do for lunch. Maybe we can figure something out together." I shut the door and followed him toward the kitchen. He put a paper bag up on the counter and started pulling take-away containers out of it.

"Great minds think alike." He started popping tops off of containers and the aroma from the freshly delivered Chinese food reached my nose. My mouth started watering.

"Fools seldom differ," I teased, pulling open a drawer and pulling out cutlery. Bruce let out a short bark of laughter and shook his head. He swept the cutlery back into the drawer and handed me a pair of chopsticks. I looked in the containers he'd laid out. There was some gooey meat and vegetables in one of them. "What is that?"

"You've never had moo goo gai pan?" He asked, picking up a piece with the chopsticks. "Open up." I raised an eyebrow but opened my mouth. He put a piece of what I discovered was chicken in my mouth. It was tender and moist. I nodded as I chewed.

"You win this round, Dr. Banner. Good lunch choice," I picked up another piece of chicken from the box, and popped it into my mouth. While I chewed, I grabbed a container and walked over to the couch. I flopped into the corner of it, and patted the spot beside me. Bruce collected the other containers and dropped them on the coffee table before he sat down beside me. I narrowed my eyes and looked at him. "Did you put Pepper up to this?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Pepper just gave me the afternoon off. Did you arrange that?"

"No, I ran into her this morning shortly after your thing was cancelled. I made an executive decision to bring you lunch," he responded. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Good decision," I praised him, flushing slightly once I realized how natural it felt to just kiss him. I don't know that I'd ever felt comfortable enough with a man to just show that level or relaxed affection. He shifted a little closer and we continued eating in silence. I put my empty container on the coffee table when I'd finished and reached for the TV remote.

"Movie?" I asked. He nodded. I opened up Netflix and chose the first recommendation without even looking at it. I leaned back into my spot and Bruce slipped his arm around me. The movie was terrible. I didn't mind so much because Bruce's arm was around me and we were snuggled up in the corner of my couch, but it was a horrible film. Lousy plot, terrible acting, ridiculously unbelievable premise. I handed the remote to Bruce.

"You get to choose this time. I'm fired from this job," I laughed. Bruce took the remote and leaned across me, dropping his head and brushing his lips against mine while at the same time turning the TV off. He dropped the remote on the carpet and brought his hand to my side. I felt my pulse race and brought a hand to his cheek. His stubble was rough against my palm. His free hand slid down my waist to rest on my hip, his fingers digging into the soft flesh there before sliding down further to pull my thigh against his. I leaned closer and knocked us both off balance and we rolled over the edge of the couch to the carpet. Bruce knocked the coffee table out of the way as we fell, and pulled me against him to cushion my fall. I felt the breath go out of him in a quick burst and giggled, thinking I probably needed to lay off the take-out. He stabilized me against his hip and I rolled onto my back, dragging him against me, pulling him down to me with his shirt collar. His mouth found mine again and I no longer felt self-conscious or inexperienced, I just felt like I wanted whatever was happening.

His fingers dug into my thigh, almost painful, and I gasped, my eyes opening. I could feel Bruce's heartbeat racing, his chest against mine, and when his eyes met mine, I could see they were taking on a green cast. I felt a hitch of panic, and then pulled my arms from around his neck, cradling his face in my hands. I brought his lips to mine, slowly, deliberately, and gently kissed him, focusing all my energy on relaxing my racing heart, that was beating in sync with his. The pounding in my head became less fierce, but my pulse was still hammering. I took another deep breath and tried to feel the world around me. I had no problem with my own body aligning with Bruce's, but I was untrained in this strange magic that I owned, and was unsure how I'd pushed it into him the last time he'd begun to change. I tried to remember all the connection with the world stuff I'd learned the one time I'd taken a yoga course, and for lack of a better word, followed the connection of my heart with his. I felt his heart, beating heavily, in my own chest, and broke the kiss to take a deep breath. Pulling him back to me, I tangled my lips with his own again, closing my eyes and expelling the long breath through my nose. My fingers and toes tingled, and everywhere that Bruce's body was touching mine was tight with electricity. Bruce's hands stilled, and I opened my eyes and met his warm chocolate eyes again. I reached up to run my hand through his hair and shocked him, startling us both. He shook his head and then dipped down to kiss me again.

When we heard the throat clearing above us, we sprang apart. I'm not sure who I was expecting. Thor, or Leif maybe. Perhaps Angela. I wasn't sure we'd closed the door all the way, and Angela was welcome to come in when the door was cracked. Thor and Leif had a habit of showing up inside whether I wanted to or not. But I wasn't expecting Loki. I shot to my feet, as did Bruce. I could feel his heart rate rising again and grabbed him hand, pushing all the calming energy I could muster into him through the tenuous connection.

"Unhand my daughter, you foul beast." Loki spat the words, clearly articulating each syllable.


	17. Chapter 17

I popped to my feet and pushed Bruce behind me. In retrospect, I'm not sure what I was thinking, but in the heat of the moment, it seemed wise to get between the two of them. I laced my fingers with Bruce's and spent most of my will forcing myself, and by connection him, to be calm. The last thing I wanted was for Bruce to change.

"Have you ever heard of knocking? That's twice now you've barged in, uninvited!" I glared Loki, taking in the battle-ready stance. He had daggers in both his hands and looked ready to lunge. He straightened, but didn't let his guard down.

"And this is what you waste your time on? This mindless beast?" Loki spat, glaring at Bruce. I stepped toward him, holding my hand up to Bruce to keep him back. I got close enough to shove Loki, for all the good it did me. He didn't move, but shifted his gaze from Bruce down to me. I didn't often feel short, but Loki, like Thor and Leif, towered over me. It made me feel insignificant and small.

"I don't recall asking your opinion. Or your permission. So get out." The snarl that came from my mouth was something otherworldly. I drew in a deep breath and calmed myself. I tried to push some of it toward Bruce. I hoped it was enough. He was shifting from one foot to the other, clenching and unclenching his fists. I assumed he was fighting the change. I stalked away from Loki back toward Bruce and took his arms in my hands. He was on the verge of the change, his eyes completely green, and his skin taking on a pale mossy hue. I shook him gently. "Come back, Bruce. Now is not the time."

Bruce struggled against my grip, but I held firm to him, willing him to calm down. "Bruce is safe. I will keep him safe." I tried to logic with the creature taking over, speaking to it as though it weren't Bruce. I could feel the muscles of his arms contracting, and growing, and started to feel panic building in my chest. The buttons on the front of his shirt popped, narrowly missing my eyes.

"NO!" I exclaimed, and stomped my foot. "Not here! Not now! He is not worth this!" But Bruce was gone, and what little weak power I had was tapped out. And with Thor off earth, there was nothing more to help me, but I still clung to the Hulk's arm, trying to push the last sense of emotional control I had into him. Something brushed against my shoulder, and a sudden current of electricity shot through my body and into the Hulk. His green eyes flared wide and he wrenched free, but wherever that reserve had come from, it had done what I'd been trying to do. The Hulk began to shrink and Bruce began to reemerge, pale, sweat, and exhausted. I felt a weight on my shoulder in the spot where the surge of electricity had entered, and made to brush whatever it was away. It was Loki's hand.

I wrenched away from his touch and stepped in front of Bruce again, more protective now than I previously had felt, determined to protect him. My window shattered and the comforting sensation of the leather grip on the handle of Mjolnir settled my jagged nerves. I looked down at the hammer, both surprised and pleased. I hadn't expected Mjolnir to come to me, with it in Asgard with Thor. When Loki stepped toward me, I finally got to see what the big deal was. I swung it, with an ease that was surprising. Less surprising was that the hammer hit its mark, and knocked Loki across the room. Bruce placed a hand on my free arm.

"He helped you change me back." It wasn't an accusation. He was stating a simple fact. But I felt guilty and sick.

"I don't want anything from him."

"If he can teach you how to control your –" Bruce paused, mulling over what word to use, "magic, that would be pretty amazing." He paused and ran a hand through his hair. "I know this sounds selfish, but Ella, if he could teach you how to maximize your ability, you could help me control the Other Guy, and maybe that's selfish. That I want you to spend time with Loki to help me. But if you can help me control the Hulk, I might be able to have some sort of normality to my life."

I laughed, and took his hand with my free one. I leaned in a kissed his cheek. "There is nothing normal about you, Dr. Banner." Loki groaned from the corner of the kitchen when he'd fallen.

"Give him just enough rope to hang himself. But learn what you can from him while he's working on the knot," Bruce recommended. I glanced from Loki to Bruce and back again. If Bruce was imploring me to give Loki a chance, I probably should. His lips brushed my forehead and he looked down at the tattered remains of his clothes and sighed. "I'm going to go. Get acquainted. You have the hammer. Use it if the situation warrants."

XXX

I dropped the hammer on Loki's chest and sat back on my heels beside him. He struggled for a minute to lift it, and then lay back with a curse. It was a creative curse, and felt unfamiliar to my ears. Mjolnir must have been allowing for the interpretation of the Alltongue again.

"It's not the damn hammer. The hammer doesn't have a brain; it has a charm on it. You understand the Alltongue because you are of my blood." Loki read my mind. "Now get this base weapon off me, daughter."

I stood up and walked to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. I wasn't really into bottled water, but housekeeping kept refilling my fridge, so I kept drinking it. I slid down the cupboards until I was sitting on the floor, facing Loki, legs crossed in front of me.

"Thor said it was the hammer."

"Thor is a buffoon."

"Leif corroborated it. Is he a buffoon too?" My question was pointed. Loki might pass off Thor as an idiot and I wondered if he would do the same to his son.

"Leif has a limited understanding of magic. He refused to develop any talent he had aside from healing." I would have thought it was disappointment in his tone, if it had been anyone else. "His magic is stronger than yours, not being tainted with humanity."

"And yet, I'm the one who can lift your brother's hammer. Says something for my humanity, doesn't it?" I quirked an eyebrow. Loki sighed and struggled under the hammer anew.

"What have you to fear from me, that you would keep me pinned, tethered in place like a common animal?" He questioned. It was a good question. I'd proven that I could use Mjolnir with good effect; I really had nothing to be concerned about when it came to my personal safety. My only concern was why Thor hadn't blown my door off its hinges yet. Maybe he couldn't travel as fast as Mjolnir could. Or maybe he hadn't noticed it was gone yet. I had no idea bout time zones in Asgard. It could be the middle of the night. I lifted the hammer off Loki and propped it against the cupboards beside me. Loki pushed himself up to sitting and appraised me slowly. It was invasive. I could feel my skin prickle against his assessment, as what must have been his magic probed at me. He narrowed his eyes and sighed, crossing his arms.

"Your magic is so like your mother's –"

"My mother doesn't have magic." I interrupted. "My mother is a human physician." Loki's eyes widened for a moment and then resumed their hooded disinterest.

"Every being on every world has the potential for magic, Ella. The truly gifted here on earth see it as science, but the ability to manipulate the world around you is a powerful form of magic," he explained. "And your mother has an uncanny ability to heal. Almost supernatural."

"Like Leif's mom," I cut in. "You know that's creepy, right? Going after the same type for eternity."

"The heart wants what it wants, Ella. Mine just happens to want Eira. But as I cannot have her, I have settled for other healers to make me feel whole for the brief amount of time I've had them." It was a confession. And it was sad. Lonely. No wonder he was sick and twisted, if his reality included seducing healers and doctors for eternity trying to get back what he'd lost the first time he'd fallen in love.

"So, magic. You say I have it," I paused, waiting for him to nod. "Show me how to control it. Show me how to develop it so it doesn't stop working."

"So you can tame the beast?" Loki spat, leaning close to me. I slapped him. It really hurt.

"Don't be an ass. I've always been able to calm people. Why shouldn't I develop this? It will benefit more than just Bruce," I argued, shaking my hand to regain the sensation in it.

"When you are lost to passion, Elizabeth, you will not be able to remember to keep him calm. And he will tear you apart when he transforms. So enlighten me as to why I would want to teach you to control your magic when I can already see it will lead to your death?" Loki wasn't completely unaffected by my slap. He rubbed his jaw lightly. I felt smug.

"I'm finding it hard to believe you care one way or another." I stood up and crossed the kitchen to toss my empty water bottle in the recycling. Loki was up and on me in a flash, pinning me to the cupboards.

"I care about the destruction of that which belongs to me, Elizabeth," he hissed in my ear. I flexed my hand and Mjolnir snapped into my opened palm. I pushed the hammer between us, and braced myself as though I might have to swing it again.

"And here's a little note, Daddy," I emphasized the term with heavy sarcasm. "I don't belong to you. I'm not an object to be owned. I'm a living, breathing person. Maybe I don't need to learn anything from you after all. Find your way out before I have Mjolnir show you the way out."

XXX

I found myself knocking on Bruce's door, arguing with myself. I was worried he would be angry that I chased Loki off. That he would push me away because of it. He opened the door, hair wet from the shower, wearing flannel pyjama bottoms. He wore no shirt, showing the wiry musculature of his arms and chest off. It was a stark contrast between the man he'd been and the man he'd become. When I was younger, in the throes of my teen girl crush on him, he'd been softer. More scientist-stuck-in-a-lab. Now he had the look of someone who'd survived to him. Survived what, I could only imagine. The horrors of his transformation weren't the only thing he'd lived through.

"I didn't count on seeing you so soon," he stepped aside to invite me in. I crossed the threshold, taking in the space around me. The ceilings were significantly higher than mine, and the furnishings were minimal. I realized this suite was tailor-made for Bruce, for when he couldn't control the transformations. Reinforced concrete pillars, thicker glass in the windows. The place was designed to withstand the damage the Hulk could do. There was a crack in the flooring in my suite where Bruce had been standing when he'd changed, but here, with the polished concrete floor, there would be no damage done when his weight increased. The amount of retrofit and reinforcement done on the building would have had to be immense, and the cost astronomical.

"Tony Stark has more depth than anyone gives him credit for," I breathed. Bruce laughed.

"I try to get out to his cabin in the wilderness at least once a month. I can't hurt anything there. Scare the crap out of the bears, but I don't hurt anything. This was just, I don't know, for in case," he shrugged.

"The floor is cold. But I like it. Maintenance is going to get sick of me requisitioning repairs to my place. The hammer took out another window. The floor needs repairs. When I knocked Loki into the kitchen, he busted my cupboards." I looked around Bruce's kitchen. It was the same as mine. More vegetables on the counter, but otherwise identical.

"Is he going to teach you?" Bruce couldn't wait for me to volunteer the information, apparently.

"I may have kicked him out," I began. Bruce's mouth dropped open. "Before you say anything, please, hear me out. He said I belonged to him. I lost my temper."

"Okay." Bruce nodded and pulled a beer out of the fridge and handed it to me after popping the cap off. I took a drink.

"Okay?"

"You're not a prize in a game, Ella. It was selfish of me to ask," he started.

"No, Bruce. It wasn't. It was desperate and lonely and that I can understand. It doesn't just benefit you that I be able to help you control your change. It benefits me too," I interrupted.

"How?" He looked puzzled.

"Because I get you. You get a more normal life, but the lynchpin to that more normal life is me. Which means I get you. So I'm selfish too." Bruce shook his head, and I knew he was going to try to argue. I held up my hand to stop him, and felt myself blushing. "This is so embarrassing, but I'm going to tell you anyhow. Bruce, I went into science because of you. But not just because I thought your research was amazing. I was fifteen. I also thought you were really dreamy. You might think you're the most selfish person in the world for wanting me to learn to control my latent abilities, but I'm just as selfish because it means I get you."

"You had a crush on me when you were fifteen?" He asked. I looked away, then looked back at him, meeting his gaze head on.

"Since I was fifteen," I admitted. He stepped over to me and pulled me into his arms. His lips bruised mine, aggressive and needy. I lost my breath, and let his passion distract me. I was gasping for air, desperate for more of him. And then I felt my heart racing. And could feel his racing too. And my power was tapped out from the earlier episode. I pulled back and took a deep breath. "Bruce, I can't control this right now." It was a warning. Bruce didn't heed it, pushing me against the wall and resuming the fevered kisses. I felt the pressure of his hand on my waist increasing and fought to bring some control, any control, to what we were doing, but that strange tingle that I'd come to recognize as the physical notice of the magic in me working was absent. Part of me was terrified. And part of me wanted to be reassured that Bruce had some self-control and would do what was right. I trusted in that part of him.

"I'm sorry," he pulled away, breathing heavily. My trust had not been misplaced. "Oh god, Ella, I'm so sorry." He turned away from me, his head in his hands. I stepped toward him, reaching for his shoulder, but pulling my hand away last minute, not touching him.

"You didn't change. You regained control yourself. I felt it." My words were quiet. I wanted him to hear them. He turned back to me.

"That wasn't you?"

"I've got nothing left. That was all you." I took his hand in mine, and ran my thumb across the raised veins. He was shaking. "I think you have more control than you realize."

"I think the Other Guy likes you too. And doesn't want to hurt you," Bruce argued. I pulled him down to the floor, sitting cross-legged in front of him. I took both his hands in mine.

"Bruce, you, the Hulk, you're two sides of the same coin. You need to accept that the Hulk, he's like your Id. He's your basest you, and lives only to protect you. He is you. You are one and the same." It was only my opinion, but I'd been doing a lot of reading of the declassified SHIELD files on Bruce lately. He shook his head.

"No. That means all the damage I caused was me," he protested.

"You already blame yourself, Bruce. Listen to the way you speak. You already attribute the actions of the Hulk to yourself. But only the bad actions –"

"There haven't been any good actions," he interrupted.

"Captain Rogers said that the Hulk was capable of following orders during the battle of New York. The Hulk saved Tony from being smashed into pulp on reentry from redirecting the nuke during the same battle. I've read the debriefing reports. You were in control. I think you have been ever since you came back from India." I felt a little like a schoolteacher lecturing a wayward pupil.

"How do you not fear me?" His tone was incredulous.

"I trust you," I shrugged. "That, and I'm half Frost Giant, whatever the fuck that means. I'm hoping it means I'm a little sturdier than the average woman."

"You're more than half remarkable, Ella," he leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "We're going to have to take this slow."

"Thor figures I've got a thousand years, give or take," I teased.


	18. Epilogue

Ella and Bruce will return in Real Power.

*cue powerful end title music*

*roll credits*

*fade to black*

*fade in*

[ext. day]

A beautiful redhead in traditional viking clothing looks out from a balcony. She is watching a little boy play in the garden below. He thrusts his wooden sword at the tall man playing with him, and the tall man tucks it under his armpit and falls to the ground, enacting an elaborate death scene. He twitches in the dirt. The little boy laughs and tackles the man, pretending to thrust the sword deeper. The adult twitches again, setting the boy into another fit of laughing. He looks up to the entry of the garden and stops. The woman tries to see what is happening but can't see the gate.

The boy leaps up and rushes toward the gate.

"Papa!"

A second tall man, in green and black armour, strides into the garden. He glares at the man on the ground, and then up at the balcony arching his eyebrow at the woman. He does not acknowledge his son, but walks through to the other side of the garden and leaves, without saying a word.

The boy crumples to the ground. The woman can hear his sad weeping and looks for some way to rush to the garden to comfort the boy. The man on the ground pushes himself up, makes eye contact with the woman and holds his hand up, staying her. He picks the boy up in an embrace, and kisses his forehead, then points to the woman and speaks quietly to the boy. The boy nods and the man carries him out of the garden, presumably up to the woman.

*fade to black*

*roll credits*


End file.
